


Ford's Dream Girl

by Zombie2315



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Engagement, F/M, Hints to sex, Love, Post-Portal incident (Gravity Falls), Pre-Portal Incident (Gravity Falls), rated again for slight language and suggestive themes, relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-21 16:08:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11360913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zombie2315/pseuds/Zombie2315
Summary: Ford really didn't want to be here, Backupsmore wasn't his ideal choice in University, but thanks to Stanley, he had no choice. He has to admit that one thing, however, was very good about attending such a school, and that was the beautiful lady he shared a couple classes with. Hopefully, she won't just laugh at him like everyone else, but Ford needed a plan to actually talk to her first. Unfortunately, talking to girls wasn't his forte.(Gravity Falls belongs to Alex Hirsch, as well as the plot of the show and the characters, I only changed a few things and inserted the reader into the story for viewing pleasure.)Edit: Three more chapters added thanks to a lovely little inspiring comment.





	1. A New Life in Gravity Falls

**Author's Note:**

> I had to do some serious math to figure out some of the years too, it was very difficult for someone who isn't great at math. They might not be accurate but I tried, also I'm British, so I'm not 100% sure when it comes to the American schooling system, so I just worked with what I had.

**Ford’s POV – 1970**

 

Backupsmore University, the low-ranking establishment that had clean dorms and the most unenthusiastic students I had ever seen in my life. How was I supposed to achieve anything here? God forbid I receive any group project assignments, I can’t say I’d have much faith in others to hold up their end of the work. But I have to live with this now, I’ll study hard, harder than anyone else and prove that I can survive here.

 

My first couple months breezed by, barley speaking to classmates and focusing on my work. I had to work twice as hard if I wanted to leave Backupsmore with impressive attributes, and so most of my time was spent in classrooms, the library and my dorm – which now resembled the library with how many books it held. Very few things could draw my attention away from my precious studies, one being my occasional weakness for jelly beans, and the other being a fellow student. (Y/N) (L/N), a beautiful specimen with the brightest smile and kindest heart out of everyone around me, we shared a few classes together and I couldn’t help myself but take the seat next to her in Psychology, asking, of course, if said seat was free. She offered me a small, yet brilliant smile while nodding her head. I swore my face was betraying my calm façade and gave away just how embarrassed and insecure I felt around her.

 

It took a few weeks for me to gain the courage to talk to her, it was the day after she had missed a different class we shared and I waited in my seat for her, gulping as she approached her own and seated herself, looking fatigued.

 

“Excuse me – (Y/N), right?” I muttered, trying to play off that I wasn’t sure of her name yet. Hopefully she believed it and wouldn’t believe me to be rude.

 

Hearing her name, she turned herself to me, tired eyes widening as if to show that she was listening, “Yeah, that’s me. Stanford?” The fact that she knew my name had me trying to fight back a blush, despite feeling calm enough to continue.

 

“I, uh, noticed that you weren’t in class yesterday. I made a copy of my notes for you, just in case, if that’s okay!” and the calmness was gone, replaced with the anxiety that made me fearful of a rejection. _She must think I’m a creep. Good job, genius!_

 

“Really? That’s… Wow, thank you so much,” her relieved expression and soft eyes melted my heart and nerves, “I was so stressed last night, I thought I’d be screwed after missing that class.”

 

Chuckling, I replied, “Well, I don’t see you talk to too many people in class, so I figured I’d lend you a hand.”

 

She took the notes from my outstretched hand and smiled as she looked over them, but I noticed her eyes drift away and look at something on the table. I grew confused for a moment, the only thing on the table was – oh. My hand…

 

“Polydactyly…” she whispered, staring intently. I balled up my fist and slowly drew my hand away from her line of sight, growing increasingly anxious. _Now she’s got to think I’m a freak. Damn it all, I should have known better than to think_ \- “Shit, I’m sorry,” her apology shocked me for a second, suddenly looking less tired and more worried, “I didn’t mean to stare or offend! I’ve just never seen it before in person and, well, I guess I’m just kind of awed about it. That sounds really stupid, doesn’t it? Damn it, I’m so sorry for… all of this.”

 

Her frantic babbling eased my anxious mind and suddenly all I could think about was how adorable she was when nervous. Her brow furrowed, eyes squinted and bottom lip drawn between her teeth. Realising I was now to one staring, I composed myself, “Please, don’t worry about it. I’m actually quite used to people staring,” a slight lie, I received a lot of strange looks for my deformity and it still made me uncomfortable every time, “No one’s ever actually apologised before, though. Most people don’t seem to care if I take offense…”

 

“Well, those people are assholes,” she muttered as the professor walked in and most people went silent. I had to resist audibly laughing at her remark, the grin on my face reflecting the one from the girl before me.

 

“Alright class, the next assignment is due in two weeks. You must partner up and complete the tasks laid out before you,” the older man stated, passing out assignment sheets to each desk he passed, “There are no exceptions, everyone must have a partner and the final submissions must have two names on it,” he drawled on.

 

After the professor had finished talking through the work, he instructed everyone to find a partner and sat back behind his dark oak desk, feet propped up on the corner. I inhaled deeply before turning to (Y/N), who coincidentally turned towards me at the same time. Wide eyes stared back at mine for a few seconds before we simultaneously laughed at the situation.

 

“Should we-” “Do you-“

 

She tilted her head, restraining another giggle as I watched her, amazed that a person could be so attractive in appearance and mannerisms.

 

“Stanford, would you like to be my partner for this project?” she asked after calming down. Her bright eyes portrayed just how happy she was, and I hoped that it was a feeling I had caused.

 

“Please, call me Ford. And I’d love to be your partner.”

 

 

**1974**

 

I had been at Backupsmore for four years now, the majority of my studies completed and only one year left to go. I decided to stay on for that extra year to gain a few more PhD’s and complete an important thesis, something that could open up a whole new range of opportunities for (Y/N) and I. Our three year anniversary had just passed, I still couldn’t believe that someone like her would love me, someone whose been laughed at their whole life for varying reasons, from my academic skills to my birth defect. Sometimes even just due to my lacking sight.

 

(Y/N) was due to return to my dorm anytime now, having finished her shift at the local diner ten minutes ago. She planned to keep this job until I graduate, even renting a small and cheap apartment nearby just so she can stay close. My heart raced just thinking about how she planned to stay with me for so long, knowing that she was in it for the long haul and not plotting to run away like everyone else, but then again, what would she have even gained from stringing me on for three years? _Stop overthinking it, Ford._ I’ve always considered women and romance to be the most complicated subject in the world, more difficult than nuclear astrophysics, now that I could understand.

 

“Dude, I can almost hear your gears turning up there. You’d have thought that three years would be enough to make you less of a nervous wreck,” my dormmate -Fiddleford- chuckled, leaning against the doorframe to my room.

 

“N-nervous? What are you talking about?” I stuttered unconvincingly.

 

Shaking his head, Fiddleford entered the room and crossed his arms, “I know neither of us are exactly experts, but that lady o’ yours loves ya. No need to be worrying yourself over anything.”

 

I had introduced (Y/N) and Fiddleford four months into the relationship and the two got along wonderfully, the three of us spending time together when I wasn’t buried under assignments and my studies. It was relieving to have the two in my life, like it was filling the hole left by- _No, don’t start grieving about him now._ Taking a deep breath, I sighed, nodding my head at F’s words. He was right, I didn’t need to worry about (Y/N) and our relationship, just like she herself had told me so many times, she loved me.

 

“Oh,” F started, turning his head at the sound of light knocking at the door, “I’ll get that for ya,” and with a wink, he left me to stare aimlessly at the doorframe, waiting for the woman I love to walk through it.

 

 

**1975**

 

“Gravity Falls,” the woman beside me breathed.

 

Nestling herself into my side, I chuckled. She had been restless ever since I asked her to come with me and explore the fastinating number of anomalies in and around Gravity Falls, Oregon. We were stood outside our newly built house, something akin to a woodland cabin that hid a large laboratory beneath it. (Y/N) looked on the verge of tears when she saw the house for the first time, the place over half constructed and surrounded by scaffolding, describing it as ‘beautiful’ and ‘perfect’. Ironically, I thought the same about her every time she didn’t know I was looking at her – though she would occasionally catch me, causing a slight blush and giggle from the both of us.

 

“Welcome home,” I whispered, placing a kiss to the crown of her hair.

 

It was a blissful five years we had, discovering the wondrous creatures of Gravity Falls, I even began to keep journals just to document everything we found, Eye Bats, Shapeshifters, the floating cliff, everything we found went onto paper. Shortly before I started my third journal, I concluded that it was the perfect time to make a big leap in my relationship. Gathering a strong metal found at the alien crash site, I planned and calculated how I would melt it down and reform it, I even managed to memorise the correct measurements after (Y/N) fell asleep. The plan was to go on a walk through the woods and rest near the waterfall a couple hours away, I would do it there.

 

**1980**

 

On paper, the whole idea seemed flawless, but in practice I was overwhelmed with fear and anxiety. What if this was the moment she realised she didn’t want to be with me anymore, that she didn’t like living in an isolated wooden cabin with a six-fingered freak.

 

“Ford, you look like you’ve just seen a ghost,” the gentle voice lured me out of my fear infested mind and I felt almost fully at ease once I looked into (Y/N)’s worried eyes.

 

“Well, my dear, I think we’ve seen things much stranger than ghosts!” I attempted to brush off the rest of my nerves, but my laugh came out a tad too forceful to be convincing.

 

Placing a small hand over my larger one, she leaned closer, “Tell me what’s bothering you, I’m not going to sit here admiring the scenery while you look on the verge of a heart attack.”

 

She was right, I knew she wouldn’t leave me to my inner turmoil, but at the same time, I just couldn’t figure out what to say, “You’re so beautiful, you know that?” for once, I tried to relax and let my heart speak instead of my brain, “And I had a whole plan, everything seemed perfect, but now that I’m sat here, looking at you… I feel like a lost child. It’s no secret that I’m not the most knowledgeable at all of this, but I do know that I love you, and that’s why I wish to spend the rest of my life with you… If you’ll have me?” it was then that I pulled the grey-metaled ring from the pocket of my coat, holding it out to her and praying that she would understand, furthermore, hoping that she would say yes.

 

“Stanford Filbrick Pines,” her voice was so small, I had to strain my ears to hear her, “I would love nothing more than to marry you,” her breathy laugh caused a few tears to slip from her eyes as the relief washed over me, ecstatic at her words.

 

 

**1981**

 

We both agreed that there was no rush to get married, she was the first to state it with “Knowing that you want to marry me is all I need right now”, so no further planning would take place in that regard, we would just enjoy life as it was in the moment. As a form of, what (Y/N) called, a late-engagement-honeymoon, we planned to stay at Dan Corduroy’s apparently-haunted cabin for a weekend. It would be an exciting experience together while conducting thorough research of all ten categories of ghosts.

 

Once that weekend was up, I had a revelation. Despite being in Gravity Falls for so many years and gathering three journals of research, I’m still no closer to finding out how all of these anomalies actually came to be, where did they come from and why Gravity Falls, of all places?

 

**Reader's POV**

 

Ford seemed both tired and restless over the past few days, ever since returning home from Dan’s cabin he seems disappointed that we don’t have any hints as to where everything we’ve discovered since arriving here came from. He had left for a walk earlier, about an hour ago now, leaving me to sleep for a little longer and allowing him to clear his head and hopefully come up with an idea of what to do next. By the time I woke up from my sleep, it was late-afternoon and Ford had just gotten home, seeing me sleepily wander out from the staircase and into the kitchen, he followed.

 

With a lazy smile, I greeted him, “Welcome back, darling.”

 

“Oh, (Y/N),” he sighed, wrapping his arms around my waist and placing his chin upon my head, “I’ve done it, I’ve found my muse.”

 

“Oh? And what would that be?”

 

“I can’t really say, but I fell asleep earlier in the woods while reading and I feel so uplifted now,” he spoke in such a cryptic way that made me suspicious, but I trusted him to know what he was doing and that it wouldn’t be too dangerous.

 

“Well, I’m happy that you’re out of your weird funk. I was starting to get worried that you’d be stir crazy,” looking up at him with a wide grin, I raised a hand to his stubbly cheek and pulled him down to press a kiss against his lips.

 

The next few months passed with Ford meditating and hunched over his desk, drawing plans for what was apparently a portal, one to another dimension. He didn’t go into great detail whenever I would ask about it, picking the words he would say carefully and this aroused that suspicion inside of me again. I didn’t know whether he didn’t trust me or he was attempting to protect me from something – but if he were protecting me, then why would he seem so thrilled to be working on this project at all? _That can’t be it. But Ford isn’t secretive with me, if it were important then he would tell me, so it’s fine. Nothing to worry about._

 

I was excited, to say the least, when I opened the front door and saw none-other than Fiddleford McGucket standing there, grinning from ear to ear as he wrapped me in a firm hug and commented on the off-silver ring on my left hand.

 

“He finally popped the question, I see! Took ‘im long enough,” he howled, patting me on the back as I helped him carry his bags inside.

 

Hearing the conversation from the other room, Ford was practically jogging to greet his old best friend and now partner. Ford called him and requested his help on the project at hand due to his knowledge involving computers and their intricate workings.

 

“Wow, Stanford,” F chimed, looking over some of Ford’s notes for the portal, “How’d you come up with all this? It seems awfully complex, someone been helpin’ ya? Aside from (Y/N), I assume,” the only response he got was a mere “Hard work pays off, old friend” from Ford while I shrugged. I offered to take F’s things to the guest room while he and Ford discuss plans and exchange banter here and there. Apparently Fiddleford had settled down with a woman in Palo Alto and currently had a son, he even showed us a picture of the happy two.

 

I was hopeful that the two would be able to finish this portal, then Ford’s research would be complete and we would finally know the source of Gravity Falls’ abnormal activity.

 

**1982**

 

I woke up from a short nap in the living room to slamming doors and loud yelling, heavy footsteps travelling from the basement to the first floor, then the second and back down again, before they faded away and what sounded like the front door closing.

 

Ford appeared in the doorway, looking frazzled and panicked, “(Y/N)…”

 

“Ford, what’s going on? Was that Fiddleford? Did he just leave?” the situation was so abrupt and confusing that I couldn’t stop all of the questions from spilling out at once.

 

Feeling strong hands grasp at my shoulders, I froze, “(Y/N), calm down, please. We… we had an incident, but it’s okay. I’ll fix it. I’ll be downstairs in my study, but please, just stay up here for now, okay?” I nodded, my confusion growing but I tried to push it to the back of my mind as Ford ran off back to the basement. _What could be so bad that would force F to leave like that?_

 

From that day on, every time I saw Ford, he looked like he was being watched. Nervous, scared, ready to attack anything that came too close, and I was scared for him. I tried to tell him that perhaps he should see a doctor, but almost every time I attempted to make conversation he would get agitated or just lock himself in the basement for a few hours. I felt that maybe I was becoming paranoid, looking too closely at a situation that would be forgotten by next week. But when I saw Ford open the front door, pointing a crossbow at the near mirror-image of a man before him, I felt like it wasn’t me that was losing my marbles, so to speak.

 

“Who is it?! Have you come to steal my eyes?!” my fiancé screamed.

 

“Well, I can always count on you for a warm welcome,” the man replied.

 

“Stanley,” Ford started, placing his weapon aside, “Did anyone follow you? Anyone at all?”

 

So this was Stanley, Ford’s twin brother. He only mentioned him a few times in the years we’ve been together, and I understood why talking about him was difficult after the way Stan had been forcefully kicked out when they were eighteen and being the reason Ford didn’t get into his dream school. Though he had said once that if not for the sacrifice of a dream school, he’d never have met his dream girl.

 

“Ah, hello to you too pal- ah!” Stan was startled as Ford grabbed the front of his brother coat, dragging him through the doorway and flashing a light into his eyes, similar to the way he had done to me a few times the past few days. “Ah! Hey! What is this?” he sounded quite upset now.

 

“Sorry!” Ford apologised, “I just had to make sure you weren’t… Uh, it’s nothing. Come in, come in,” he walked away, waving his brother inside.

 

“Look, are you going to tell me what’s going on here?” Stanley grunted as he looked around the rooms, seeing a lot of things he didn’t understand, “You’re acting like mom after a tenth cup of coffee.”

 

“Listen, there isn’t much time. I’ve made huge mistakes and I don’t know who I can trust anymore,” he turned the skull of a skeleton to face the other way, as if it could actually see him.

 

Stanley looked like he felt out of place, not understanding his brothers ranting, “Hey, easy there. Let’s talk this through, okay?” he finished by placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder.

 

After a hesitant pause, Ford spoke, “I have something to show you. Something you won’t believe…”

 

“Look, I’ve been around the world, okay?” he stated, not believing his twin’s statement, ”Whatever it is, I’ll understand.”

 

Before Ford led his brother down into the depths of the basement, Stan pegged me in the corner of the room, seemingly just noticing my presence. He seemed surprised when I introduced myself as Ford’s fiancée, probably assuming that his brother wouldn’t be the type to settle down, and I suppose I wouldn’t blame him after seeing Ford in his current state of mind.

 

A solid ten minutes passed, I spent that time waiting on the sofa and staring at the door to the basement. I didn’t even know Stanley had been invited up to Gravity Falls, and now Ford was telling him something important and apparently Ford didn’t trust me enough to be down there too, he doesn’t trust me to know his secrets. The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth, but it was soon forgotten when I heard Ford’s screams. Throwing the door open and racing so fast down the stairs I almost slipped a few times, I reached the bottom, panting hard but not stopping until I entered the large room with the portal.

 

I had seen it before, a giant upside-down triangle with a circle in the middle, then two circles in the floor with two adjacent to them. Off to the right, there was a console that said ‘Manual Overdrive’ above it and then an open door to the right of that, placing it in the closest corner of the room. Inside the small closet was a cryo-freeze chamber, similar to the one in the bunker out in the woods which Ford and Fiddleford had created to contain the Shapeshifter due to its deceptive and sneaky nature.

 

But those things weren't what held my interest now, what did was Stan, yelling at the portal and trying to pull at the lever-like stand in the centre of the room.

 

“Stanford, come back! I didn’t mean it! I just got him back. I can’t lose him again! Ah, come on!” he gave up on the lever and looked back at the portal, “STANFORD!”

 

“Stanley…” the sound of my shaky voice seemed to scare him, his form going ridged as his head spun to look at me. My eyes darted between Stan and the portal, everything clicking in place at once, and before even I knew it, I was lunging myself towards him, “You son of a bitch! What did you do?!”

 

He raised his arms up to block my punches, not that it really mattered, he was bigger and stronger than me, but I was beyond pissed at him, so that fuelled me plenty. “(Y/N)! (Y/N), stop! I’m sorry!” he finally made an attempt at stopping me by grabbing onto my wrists, but my relentless struggling gave him reason to keep his hold where it was. He started pushing me backwards, though I was unaware of what was behind me and didn’t find it relevant while blindsided by rage. It wasn’t until I was pushed into the cylindrical chamber that I stopped fighting, the glass door sealing shut as Stan looked relieved that I couldn’t fight back anymore. _But he has no idea what he’s just done…_ “(Y/N), I am so sorry, but I’ll fix this, just-“

 

“Stan, let me out of here now!” I yelled with panic in my tone, “You don’t know-“ after that, everything stopped, I couldn’t speak, hear, or feel anything. It was an endless darkness.


	2. Welcome Back

**Ford’s POV - 2012**

 

I glared at the man before me, the fool I called a brother that just risked the entire world to open that damn portal again.

 

“Finally! After all these long years of waiting, you’re actually here!” he started to approach me, arms outstretched on either side, “Brother-“ I quickly cut him off with a swift punch to the jaw. “Oh, ow! What the heck was that for?!”

 

“This was an insanely risky move, restarting the portal! Didn’t you read my warnings?” I reprimanded him.

 

“Warnings, shmornings,” he waved an arm, dismissing my words, “Hows about a thanks for maybe saving you from what appears to be some kinda, I don’t know, sci-fi sideburn dimension?”

 

I furrowed my brows at this, “Thank you? You really think I’m going to thank you after what you did thirty years ago?!”

 

“What I did?! Why you ungrateful…” he swung at me, but I quickly dodged to the side, only to dodge again as he pounced in my direction. I grasped his shoulders from behind and locked his wrists behind his back with one hand. “Don’t expect me to go easy on you! Just because you’re family!” his obnoxious rambling ended after I slammed him to the ground, pinning him.

 

“Hey, hi, Mabel here,” a sweet and chirpy voice said, “Quick question: What the heck is going on here?!”

 

Seeing the young girl in a pink sweater and the boy next to her in a blue baseball cap, I moved away from my brother, “Stan, you didn’t tell me there were children down here… And some sort of large, hairless gopher.”

 

The ‘gopher’ laughed, “I get that a lot!”

 

Stanley finally raised back to his feet beside me, ”They’re your family, poindexter. Shermie’s grandkids.”

 

“I… I have a niece and nephew?” I was surprised at this, my expression softening at the news. I took a long stride towards the girl, Mabel, and shook her hand, “Greetings, do kids still say ‘greetings’? I haven’t been in this dimension for a really long time.”

 

“Woah,” Mabel proclaimed, looking at my hand, “Six-fingered handshake! It’s a full finger friendlier than normal.”

 

I released a hearty chuckle, “I like this kid, she’s weird!”

 

“I-I can’t believe it…” the boy to my right stuttered, “you’re the author of the journals!”

 

“You’ve read my journals?” I asked, happy that the boy seemed to find them so interesting.

 

He looked ready to explode, “I haven’t just read them, I’ve lived them! I’ve been waiting for so long to meet you, I-I-I don’t know what to say. I-I have so many questions, I-“ he stopped himself, breathing heavily and clutching at his hat, “Uh, I think I’m going to throw up!” heaving once, he huffed, “No, no! False alarm,” then he heaved again, “Just gotta ride it out…”

 

“There’ll be time for introductions later, but first, tell me Stan, are there any security breaches? Does anyone else know about this portal?”

 

“No! Just us…” he gave me a sideward glance, crossing his arms, “Also maybe the entire US government.”

 

“The what?!” looking through the large window to the other room, I could see a security camera displayed on a small monitor, agents barging their way into my house. “Okay, it’s alright,” I sighed, “We’ve got awhile before they find this room. We just need to lay low and think of a plan!” flipping to a clean page in my journal, I began to take notes.

 

“Well, it looks like we’re stuck down here for a while, who wants to tell us their entire mysterious backstory?” Mabel asked, excited to hear the story of her Great Uncles.

 

“Yes, I have some questions about all of this myself, Stanley,” I interjected.

 

“Stanley?” Dipper questioned.

 

Both twins turned to Stan, Mabel continuing for her brother, “But your name is Stanford.”

 

“Wait, you took my name?! What have you been doing for all these years, you knucklehead?! Did you take my fiancée too, while you were at it?” the question slipped out without me realising until I had said it, suddenly curious and worried about (Y/N). Was she even still here?

 

“Fiancée?” the younger twins asked in sync, looking wide-eyed at me.

 

Stan suddenly looked the most uncomfortable he had since I arrived, scratching the back of his neck, “Yeah… I didn’t do that. But, you’re gonna be just as mad…” he trailed off as he walked to the corner of the room where a small closet was. I couldn’t even remember what I put in there, it was virtually useless…

 

The cryo-freeze chamber! _God, how could I forget! And (Y/N)…_ “Stan… What the heck were you thinking?!” I held back the profanities, despite how angry I was at the sight of (Y/N) in there, remembering that there were children present.

 

“That’s the point! I wasn’t thinking! She was upset and locking her in there was the only way I could think of getting her to stop attacking me. I panicked and left her in there for you to deal with once I got you back here!”

 

His selfish and stupid decision made my blood boil, but I chose to ignore him in the meantime, opting to let the poor girl out of the frozen cage after thirty years of being trapped. Once the ice had finished melting and the machine ensured that she was stable, the sealed door opened and allowed the now fatigued woman to stumble out, the cryo-freeze process taking its toll on her. I steadied her by wrapping both arms around her midsection as her head laid against my chest, her breathing was deep and set in a steady rhythm – a good sign. Her hands slowly reached up to clutch at my arms, her head raising up but still hanging slightly due to how tired she was.

 

“Stanley?” she whispered, looking at the man to my right, “What…”

 

“(Y/N), it’s me… I’m back,” I began stroking her hair gently as she looked up, surprise coating her features before tears welled in her eyes, “It’s okay…”

 

I suspected that Mabel was the source of the high-pitched squeal behind me, followed by “They’re so cute!”.

 

I led (Y/N) across the room to a large piece of debris that the gopher-man sat on and quietly asked if he could watch her, I needed to sort everything out with Stan while she recuperates.

 

 

**Reader’s POV**

 

“Okay, Grunkle Stan, no more lies! You owe us some answers,” the young boy demanded, “What’s the deal with this portal? Why did you keep this a secret?”

 

“And what happened between you and your brother?” the girl beside him asked. _Huh, they must be twins too._ I mused to myself.

 

“I’m hoping all this aligns with my fanfic, Stan!” the large man I was currently leaning on said. The increasing number of voices in this conversation started to make my head spin, so I closed my eyes and focused on breathing, occasionally taking in sections of the conversation at hand.

 

“Okay, okay, okay. I know I have a lot of explaining to do. It all started… a lifetime ago,” Stan began retailing his life story, starting from when he and Ford were kids and living in Glass Shard Beach, New Jersey with their parents. He told of how close the pair were, labelling themselves as the ‘Kings of New Jersey’ when they found an old boat they dubbed the ‘Stan O’ War’. I smiled at the thought of Ford as a kid, remembering an old picture he once showed me and how the small boy was so easily recognisable as the man I loved. A part of me hoped that we could have our own children after seeing that picture, wondering if we’d keep up the genetic tradition of birthing twins. But after everything that’s happened, the likelihood of children seemed far too slim now.

 

As he continued, Stan made sure to mention a few details, from how intelligent his brother would get each year, to how unpopular he was with girls. They were an inseparable pair right up until the end of high school when Stan accidentally broke Ford’s device and ruined his chances of ever getting into his dream school, West Coast Tech. After getting kicked out of his home, Stan travelled around the world searching for treasure and fortunes in order to impress his family, but only ended up gaining a bad reputation as a salesman and a shoebox full of fake ID’s.

 

“Whoa, so that explains all the fake ID’s,” the girl mused, looking to who I assumed was her brother.

 

“What about you? Did you end up going to your dream school?” said boy added, looking at Ford.

 

“… Not exactly,” he hesitated before telling them about attending Backupsmore and how he needed to work twice as hard if he ever wanted to achieve anything impressive. He didn’t go into as much detail about his University life, aside from his twelve PhDs and how he met me, slipping in a mumbled “best thing at that school”, probably not wanting to give Stan the satisfaction of his wrongdoings giving Ford a positive outcome in the end. After his thesis was nationally ranked and receiving a large sum of money in the form of a grant for his research, he chose Gravity Falls as his hunting grounds to study the high concentration of anomalies, taking me with him along the way. He was about to describe the journals he had used to document his findings as a shrill scream cut him off.

 

“Ah! The journals!” it was the boy in the blue hat, “Sorry, sorry. Just got excited there, about the journals,” he coughed when he saw everyone staring, including me who was more awake after hearing the high-pitched noise, “Keep-keep talking.”

 

“I began to keep a journal.”

 

“Ah!”

 

Ford coughed, “Just going to ignore that,” he deadpanned.

 

He continued on, detailing what he and I did during our years in Gravity Falls and the creatures we found. When he reached the point of his academic road-block, he talked about the portal, about inviting Fiddleford to help him build it, and then when F fell halfway through, coming back and speaking gibberish. That was the day that he left and I remembered it as clear as day, probably because to me it was only a about a week ago. It was after that day that he sent Stan a post card, asking him to come to Gravity Falls in order to give him his first journal and take it as far away as possible, and that was how the fight started, Stan trying to burn the book and Ford refusing to let his research go to waste. And of course, Ford finally falling through the portal.

 

The story flipped back to Stan, again. After losing Ford and accidentally locking me inside of the cryo-freeze chamber, he worked hard to turn the portal back on for weeks, getting little sleep and becoming desperate to get his brother back. But it didn’t matter, everything he tried was useless. Eventually he left the house and went into town, only to be recognised as the mysterious man from the woods who makes all those ’sci-fi noises’, obviously no one knew better – what with their near-identical appearances. He had let people into mine and Ford’s home, giving them tours of the weird things inside and charging them a lot of money for it, eventually creating the ‘Mystery Shack’.

 

“So, all this time, you were just trying to save your brother,” the young boy who was now sat beside me said, looking at Stan, “Grunkle Stan, I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you.”

 

“That’s okay, kid. I probably wouldn’t have believed me either.”

 

“I heard talking! It was coming from downstairs!” a male voice shouted from the level above us. _Who the hell is that?_

 

“Oh no, it’s too late! The agents are coming for us!” Stan yelled.

 

“Agents?” I questioned, looking from face to face, hoping to get an explanation.

 

“What do we do?!” Mabel added, standing up.

 

“Oh man, I was so spellbound by your dramatic tale, I forgot all about those dudes!” the large man I had been leaning on stated. _Who are all of these people?_

 

“Wait, forget… That’s it!” the boy said, “I think I know a way we might be able to defeat those agents!” he produced a gun-like device from his backpack, one I recognised as the memory erasing gun created by Fiddleford. The one he assured Ford and I had been destroyed…

 

“Of course! I don’t know how you got a hold of one of these, but this is perfect!” after stating this, Ford ran into the next room where all of the consoles and controls for the portal should be. Everyone chased after him while I steadied myself, going at a much slower pace. “Now everyone, plug your ears! Get down, now!” I had just set foot through the doorway when he yelled, but I followed his orders and crouched myself low on the ground with my hands covering my ears, tightly.

 

Once the wave passed, everyone began to follow Ford upstairs, but we stayed inside as he left out of a door at the side of the house. He told everyone to stay back before approaching the men dressed in black, “Stand down, gentlemen! I’ve been sent with the latest intel from Washington, according to this very real report, the power surges in Gravity Falls were actually due to an unreported meteor shower, a total embarrassment for your whole department. Luckily, I’m here to take this mess off your hands, I’ll need all your floppy disks and… uh, eight-tracks,” he finished, sounding hesitant near the end, “Right?”

 

“Uh, everything about this case is contained on this… drive,” the moustached man in black replied, rubbing his head as the man beside him passed over a small black rectangle. I wasn’t entirely sure what use such a small device could have, though

 

“Well, what are you waiting for? A kiss on the cheek?! Get outta here before I have your butts court marshalled!” my grey-haired fiancé yelled.

 

“Ah, yes sir… Apologies sir…” he whistles, rotating his hand in the air to signal the other men to gather up and leave, “False alarm, everyone!” as he made his way towards a car, he stumbled on what may have been a log, causing the children next to me to giggle.

 

When there were no more men in sight, I left the house and approached him, one hand over my stomach due to the lingering nausea, “You never told me you were so good at improv.”

 

He seemed startled by my words, as if the sound of my voice scared him, but his features quickly softened as he welcomed me into his arms. The moment didn’t last very long as the others dashed out of the house.

 

“Great Uncle Stanford, that was amazing!”

 

“Let’s not go crazy, it was serviceable.”

 

Ford chuckled, ignoring Stan, “Thank you, kids. But please, call me Ford.”

 

“Sure!” the hat-wearing boy said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, “Thanks, Great Uncle Ford… So, would you mind if I asked you a couple billion questions about Gravity Falls?” his face gave away just how eager he was, as well as the rapid clicking of a pan in his hand.

 

His Great Uncle made an unsure sound, looking off to the side, “Well… I, uh-“

 

“Alright, kids. It’s been a long day and me and my brother have a lot to talk about, so why don’t you hit the hay, huh?” Stan looked frustrated, by what, I wasn’t sure yet.

 

“But, it’s the Author! I’ve been waiting so long to ask questions about-“

 

Stan cut him off, pushing the two children towards to door to the house and watching them until they passed the threshold, “I said: Hit… the hay!”

 

“I’ll just… let myself out…” the large man mumbled, slowly sidestepping away.

 

I excused myself to the kitchen when Stan, Ford and I entered the house – or what was now some kind of giftshop, now that I got a good look at it. _God, what happened to my beautiful home?_ Stan wasn’t lying when he said he’d turned it into a tourist trap, and when I took a peek into the living room, it was a mess, but last time I had seen it, there were papers and experiments all over the place. How long had I been in that chamber? If Stan and Ford have noticeably changed so much, then it must have been awhile. My train of thought derailed as Ford entered the kitchen, looking tired. He looked in my direction, seeing me sat at the table, nursing a hot drink. He smiled before joining me with his own beverage, sitting across from me.

 

Sighing, he started the inevitable conversation, “It’s been a long time- at least for me, it has. For you, no time has passed, I guess…” even his words seemed tired, like it was costing him energy to say them.

 

“How long has it been?” I whispered.

 

“Thirty years…” he was looking me in the eyes now and all I could see was sadness, “(Y/N), I’m sorry for all of this. If I had never built that blasted portal then-“

 

“Ford, don’t,” I interrupted his self-loathing rant, “Don’t blame yourself. I just have one question, that’s all,” he sat up straight, preparing for whatever I was about to ask, “Do you still love me?”

 

He may not have been as prepared as he thought, judging by the cough he emitted, choking on a gasp, “What? Of course I still love you! Why would you think otherwise?”

 

My eyes locked onto the cup in my hands, watching the liquid ripple as I tilted in back and forth, “It’s just… thirty years is a long time to stop loving someone…”

 

“(Y/N), look at me,” I did, I looked deep into those eyes I fell in love with so many years ago, “The past thirty years has been… difficult, to say the least. Not only have I been through so many dimensions that I’ve lost count, but I did it without you, and I missed you every day. I would see something strange and think about how much I wished you were there with me because I know you love the strange things in life just as much as I do!”

 

I couldn’t stop the half laugh, half sob that escaped me, grinning at his endless rambling, “Okay! Okay, I get it, you still love me,” I bit my lower lip as I stared at him, my gaze travelling from his greying hair to the six-fingered hands that were now encasing mine. I fixed my eyes back onto his own, giving in and finally leaning across the table, placing a firm kiss against his aged lips. He seemed startled at first, not expecting me to adjust to the situation as fast as I did, but soon relaxed and added a light pressure of his own. A few moments passed before we both pulled away, a quiet “I love you” escaping me as he pressed his forehead to mine.

 

That night, Ford and I slept on one on the sofas downstairs, him laid on his side while he held me to his chest. He answered a few of my less serious questions before we fell asleep, like who the children were. Turns out they’re Ford and Stan’s great niece and nephew, Mabel and Dipper. Ford joked that, technically, I could be considered their great aunt, though I wouldn’t protest to them actually calling me that.


	3. He's Back

**Reader's POV**

 

A fortnight had passed now since waking up from being frozen and I had met quite a few characters that showed up regularly throughout the Mystery Shack, mainly those that worked there. Soos, the large man that had been my support beam after unfreezing, was quite weird and loud, but friendly and approachable. He mentioned once that I was like Captain America, and saluted when I excused myself from the conversation. Wendy was the girl that usually manned the cash register, a wonderful girl who seemed surprised when I asked how her father was, but laughed it off when she remembered I’m ‘older than I look’ and have lived in Gravity Falls since before she was born. Mabel and Dipper had a hell of a time speaking to me whenever they couldn’t flag down Ford; Mabel mostly asking about our relationship, like how we met, our first kiss, our first date and so on, so forth, and Dipper curious to know about our discoveries and the journals. All in all, it’s been pretty relaxing around the place, Ford and Dipper even managed to convince me to play Dungeons, Dungeons and More Dungeons with them a few times, which thankfully Ford had taught me how to play back in University.

 

Tonight, we were laid on our makeshift bed again, aka, the sofa. I was curled up on Ford’s sweater-covered chest as he laid on his back, his breathing causing my head to rise and fall against him. We were laid like this for a few hours, both deep in slumber, but that was interrupted as Ford awoke with a gasp, sitting up quickly and causing me to partially fall onto the sofa beside him, “I have to warn them… He’s coming…”

 

“Who’s coming, Ford?” I asked, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

 

“(Y/N), I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, but there’s something important that you have to know. I’ll tell you in the morning, with everyone else. You go back to sleep, I have to do something, I’ll be in my study,” and with a kiss on my forehead, he was gone.

 

It was early afternoon when I woke up again, the sound of Ford’s voice calling “Family meeting! Family meeting!” giving me that boost of energy to push myself off of the sofa and through the house to the living room.

 

“Ah, children, (Y/N). Come in, come in,” Mabel didn’t hesitate to bound her way over to him, standing on the seat across from him as she examined the table.

 

“Oh, mysterious scrolls and potions. Are you going to tell us we’re finally of age to go to wizard school? Is there an owl in this bag?!” the clinking of glass bottles as she rifled through said bag indicated that there was indeed no owl inside.

 

“No! I can assure you, if there’s an owl in this bag he’s long dead,” Ford stated, snatching the bag away from her and dismissing the frown on her face. Looking at the kids now, he started, “Now, tell me children, do either of you recognise this symbol?” with that, he pulled out a large sheet of stained paper that showed a triangle with arms, legs, a hat and one eye, hieroglyph-like drawings surrounding it.

 

I surely didn’t know what it was, but the kids’ gasps seem to indicate that they did, “Bill…”

 

“You-you know him?” Ford stuttered.

 

“Know him? He’s been terrorising us all summer! I have so many question and theories,” Dipper said, looking frazzled.

 

“Dipper’s been pretty paranoid since Bill turned him into a living sock puppet,” Mabel added.

 

“The important thing is: We defeated him twice.”

 

“Once with kittens and once with tickles!”

 

“It was a lot more heroic than it sounds.”

 

“The fact that you’ve dealt with Bill is gravely serious,” Ford placed a hand on the table, furrowing his brows at the children before him.

 

“So...” Dipper started, “How do you know Bill?” I turned my head to look at Ford fully now, having no doubt that this was the important news he had to share with me.

 

Offering me a quick glance, he hunched himself over the table and rests his forearms in front of him, “I’ve encountered many dark beings in my time, Dipper. What matters is his powers are growing stronger, and if he pulls off his plans, no one in this family will be safe! Fortunately, there should be a way to shield us from his mental tricks.”

 

I gave up listening to the full conversation as Ford listed everything we would need to ‘Bill-proof’ the Shack and Mabel screaming once he mentioned unicorn hair. We all agreed that she was pretty much the most pure-of-heart person out of the four of us and Ford helped her prepare by giving her Journal One and a crossbow, stating “I haven’t been in this dimension for a while, it’s okay to give children weapons, right?” right before Mabel accidentally shot an arrow through the glass window of the front door and set off a car alarm, followed by Stan’s yelling and dogs’ barking.

 

After the young girl had left, Ford led Dipped and I down to the study, above the lab in the basement.

 

“Welcome to my private study, the place where I keep my most ancient and secret knowledge. Even your Uncle Stan doesn’t know about this place.”

 

Ford proceeded to tell us about Bill and the little knowledge he has about him, like how he seems to be older than our universe and that since he has no physical form, he can only project himself into our minds. When Ford mentioned having a metal plate in his head, to keep Bill out, Dipper laughed while I just stared at him.

 

“Good one,” though his laughter stopped when a metallic echo came from Ford’s head as he lightly knocked it with his fist.

 

Ford continued his explanation, stating that the machine in front of us, connected to the helmet on Dipper’s head, would bioelectrically decrypt our thoughts and prevent Bill from using our mind for his own personal gain.

 

“Say hello… to your thoughts.”

 

‘Oh man, I can’t believe I’m with the Author. Is my fly down? DISCO GIRL, COMING THROUGH! Wendy, Wendy, Wendy.’

 

“Might wanna… ignore that last one…” Dipper mumbled, “By the way, you never told me what your history with Bill was.”

 

I agreed with him, being just as curious about this whole situation as he was. “Dipper, do you trust me?” he asked, gripping the boys shoulder.

 

“Well, yeah, but-“

 

“Then you’ll trust that that’s not important! Now, focus, it’s time to strengthen you mind!”

 

His diversion from the topic seemed to be enough for Dipper for now, but I didn’t let Ford drop the topic without seeing my scowl, sick of not getting any answers. He eventually fell asleep at his desk off to the side of the room, likely exhausted from being awake so early and coming down here to do God knows what. I sat on a spare chair a couple feet away from the two males, my arms crossed and eyes trained on the ground, that is, until Dipper speaks up.

 

“Ugh! This is taking forever!” he was right, it had been maybe half an hour and the machine was only at fifteen percent, “How long have I been doing this for?” he seemed to forget that I was awake and listening to his mumbled thoughts, “Why does he have to be so mysterious about Bill? I can handle the truth.”

 

‘I wonder what Great Uncle Ford is thinking. Use the machine, it’ll show you his thoughts!’

 

“I shouldn’t…”

 

‘He won’t know. He’s going to tell you eventually. The more you know about Bill, the more you can help!’

 

“Man, I am really good at rationalising.”

 

‘Yes, you are! Yes, you are! Yes, you are! Yes, you are!’ as he removed the helmet from his head, he slowly walked towards Ford, trying not to wake him, but stopped as soon as he saw my eyes on him, looking like a deer in the headlights. I looked between him and Ford, knowing that he could be very upset at Dipper for using the machine on him, and me for letting him do so, but he shouldn’t have left curious minds waiting. I nodded to him, signalling that I agreed with his plan.

 

Dipper left no room for hesitation as he placed the device on Ford’s head and turned to look at the large screen. The same triangle we saw earlier on that piece of paper was now on the screen, a golden yellow surrounded by a blue flame and emitting a loud, obnoxious cackle.

 

‘Where are these ideas comin’ from? Who are you working with?!’ Fiddleford appeared on the small right-hand screen, his hands gripping onto Ford’s arms and looking terrified. This must have been the night he left, the night of the ‘incident’, as Ford described it.

 

‘My brother is a dangerous know-it-all,’ Stanley’s voice. The words ‘TRUST NO ONE’ were written by what was likely Ford in one of his journals.

 

‘He would trick and possess anyone!’ Stanford’s own words, ones he spoke only forty minutes ago, ‘Then it’s a deal, from now until the end of time,’ the younger Ford said, reaching his hand outwards, as if to shake someone’s hand.

 

‘Just let me into your mind, Stanford,’ the shrill voice of Bill made me cringe, and seeing him shake hands with the man I promised my life to sent an unpleasant shudder down my spine.

 

‘Please, call me… a friend.’

 

The final image caused Dipper to take a step back, Ford laughing maniacally, but it wasn’t his eyes – they were a glowing yellow, “Ford and Bill?!” he then gasped, hearing Ford raise from his seat and the reflected light on his glasses made him look menacing.

 

“You shouldn’t have done that,” he stated gravely, stepping closer to the young boy as Dipper slowly backed away.

 

I watched hopelessly as Ford removed the device from his head and threw it to the side, letting it crash into something covered by a cloth that fell from the impact, revealing some kind of mural dedicated to the triangular demon.

 

Dipper gasped, “Why-why were you shaking hands with Bill? You said Bill could possess anyone so he could get this!” he pointed an accusing finger at his great uncle before picking up the interdimensional rift, though yelping as he almost dropped it.

 

“Careful! Hand me the rift,” Ford demanded, “Now, boy!”

 

“Don’t do it Dipper!” I shouted from behind Ford, not knowing what else to do.

 

“Why were you really scanning my thoughts?” Dipper paused as he saw the memory erasing gun on the table next to him, quickly grabbing it as a defensive weapon, “Are you Bill right now?!”

 

“Now-now just calm down, p-“

 

“Pine Tree?! Is that what you were going to call me?!”

 

“I was gonna say please, kid!”

 

“Great Uncle Ford told me to protect the rift! Get one step closer and I’ll shoot! I’ll erase you right out of Ford’s head!” the kid was resilient and tough, certainly looking stronger than I felt right now.

 

“It’s me, Dipper! It’s you uncle!”

 

“Trust no one, trust no one, trust…” he repeated.

 

“Just hand it to me!” Ford quickly used his raised arms to cover his face after a blast from the gun bounced off of his glasses and began ricocheting around the room. Dipper and I both crouched low, trying to avoid the blast before it hit the middle of the giant screen, destroying the machine completely.

 

“Let go of me!” I heard Dipper say, looking up to see Ford lifting him off the ground by the back of his jacket.

 

“Now, just calm down, calm down! Look into my eyes, look at my pupils. It’s me, Dipper! It’s me,” I heaved a sigh, as did Dipper once he was sure himself. I placed my hands over my eyes to try and calm down the developing headache as Ford praised his great nephew for being as brave as he was.

 

“Dipper, (Y/N), I was a fool to try and hide all this. The reason I’ve been trying to prepare you for Bill’s tricks is because Bill tricked me. It’s the biggest regret of my life,” he looked at me sadly while saying that last part, trying to communicate that he was sorry for ever doing it, for listening to Bill and building the portal that would steal him away from me. “Bill wasn’t always my enemy, Dipper,” he continued, looking to the boy now, “I used to think he was my friend. Long, long ago… I had hit a roadblock in my investigation of Gravity Falls, until I found some mysterious writing in a cave, ancient incantations about a being with answers.”

 

As Ford continued his story, retelling how he summoned Bill and their first conversation developing into what seemed like a friendship at the time, I remembered the day Ford came home, telling me that he discovered his muse and how happy he was. All this time, that muse was Bill, and he had tormented my lover's mind and stuck around long enough to haunt him after stepping foot into his own dimension again. Apparently, Bill neglected to inform Ford that the dimension he had been building a gateway to led to a place of nightmares, a glimpse of such a place being the reason Fiddleford left the way he did. And that was the reason Ford shut the portal down that night, feeling like eyes were watching him, no matter what room he used to feel safe in, it would feel tainted by the feeling of Bill watching.

 

“To Bill, it’s just a game, but to us, it would mean the end of our world,” he concluded as Dipper folded a diagram, the existing folds causing the section labelled ‘dreamscape’ to disappear and leave the images of a human mind and Bill to line up.

 

“Oh man,” Dipper whispered.

 

“Oh man, indeed,” Ford agreed.

 

We all retreated upstairs to the living room again, sitting at the round table and each drinking a can of soda. I sat next to Ford while Dipper sat on his other side, Ford’s hand was wrapped tightly around my own on the table as I rested a head on his shoulder, my previous headache finally fading away.

 

“What about Bill? I destroyed the machine, now we have no way to protect the Shack,” Dipper’s statement wasn’t true for long as Mabel slammed her fist onto the table, startling us all.

 

“Did someone say: Unicorn hair?!”

 

“Uh… No, actually,” Dipper replied.

 

“Oh, that would have been perfect,” she deadpanned, “Either way, we got some unicorn hair!”

 

“Also, some unicorn tears, unicorn eyelashes,” the girl I believed to be Candy added, if I remembered Mabel’s descriptions correctly from one of our previous talks.

 

“They finally gave us this treasure just to get rid of us!” I assume Grenda finished.

 

Ford looked awed at the pile of gold in front of him, amazed at what the kids have achieved, “It-it can’t be… This is a great day, girls! With this unicorn hair, we’ll be able to completely shield the Shack from Bill’s mind reading tricks.”

 

“Was it okay?” a meek Mabel asked.

 

“Better than okay, it’s perfect! You’ve protected your family,” he placed a hand on her shoulder, “You’re a good person, Mabel.”

 

Tearing up, Mabel placed her hand on her hips, “Thanks, Grunkle Ford! But today, I’ve learned that morality is irrelative.”

 

Everyone blanked at her statement as she beamed, most people in the room ignoring a loud Stan as he raced by, grabbing as much of the gold as he could while screaming “MONEY” and leaving in a flash.

 

I was sat in the kitchen, alone, slowly sipping on my hot drink, just like I did a few weeks ago. I was waiting for Ford to finish up outside with Dipper, the two lining the foundation of the house with the unicorn hair that Mabel retrieved. I felt at ease, knowing the truth behind Bill at last, and knowing that we had ways of keeping him out of our minds comforted me enough to sit back and relax.

 

“Well, that’s the Shack safe and secure,” Ford announced, walking into the kitchen and grinning his beautiful grin in my direction. Standing from my chair, I walked over to him, wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down gently, pressing my lips against his. He seemed surprised but didn’t hesitate to pull me closer, wrapping both arms around my waist. Eventually, he pulled away, “What was that for?”

 

“I love you,” I muttered with a dopey smile, “Granted, I’m still a little annoyed that you kept this whole Bill situation quiet for so long. But, I can understand why you did. So, I’m forgiving you.”

 

“Oh!” the look in his eyes portrayed sadness, but also longing and adoration, “God, I really am sorry for… well, all of this, but I love you so much and I only ever wanted to protect you. Especially after seeing a glimpse of what Bill planned to set loose in our world before I shut the portal down, the first time.”

 

“It’s okay, Ford. What matters now is that we’re safe inside the Shack and we all know what we’re up against.”

 

He looked relieved at my words, happy to see that I wasn’t angry at him, “How did I get so lucky, having you in my life?” placing a chase kiss to my forehead, he led me out of the kitchen and towards the sofa, “Come on, I think we’ve earned ourselves a good nights sleep.”

 

And he was right, I couldn’t remember the last time I had slept so well, but it was a comfortable, dreamless sleep for the both of us.


	4. Alone at Last

**Reader’s POV**

 

I stood outside and watched Soos finish up securing a bunch of camping gear and bags to the roof of the RV, reminding him to be careful and not fall. He waved away my warning and reminded me “Dudette, don’t even worry! I’m a handyman, this is what I do!”. Everyone was getting ready to head out on the yearly Ultimate Oregon Road Trip Adventure, which according to Stan included driving across Oregon and terrorising all of the roadside attractions as revenge for what they had done to the Mystery Shack in years prior. Well, I say ‘everyone’, but Ford and I had already declined the offer to go, Ford stating that he needed to keep finding new ways to keep Bill away for good, and me, well I had some ideas stored away. I recall Mabel asking where Dipper was since he wasn’t actually informed of the trip and she was holding high hopes of him tagging along.

 

She didn’t have to wait long, because right after she finished up asking me, Dipper showed up and the confusion was easily recognisable on his face. While Stan and Soos described the gist of the trip to Dipper, Mabel gave me a hug and trotted over to her friends, Candy and Grenda. I told the girls to have fun and stay safe as they set foot inside the RV, turning towards the sound of Mabel dropping a shoebox on the ground. Pictures of Wendy laid spread out on the floor, causing Soos and Mabel to simultaneously groan and Dipper to scramble around in an attempt to pick up all the photos.

 

“Bro, I thought you were finally past all this,” Mabel sounded exasperated, he must have been infatuated with her for longer than I thought, and boy was it obvious that he liked her, even to me and I haven’t exactly been around for some time.

 

“Uh, I know, I know! I know she’s not interested and I know it’s over, but how do you just turn off the way you feel about someone?” his crestfallen expression almost broke my heart.

 

“Two words, Dipper: Move on.”

 

“Yeah, dude. And a road trip’s the perfect way to meet new people!”

 

Soos and Mabel disappeared into the RV while Dipper stared at the picture of Wendy in his hands, “Dipper, don’t worry about it. Your Great Uncle Ford didn’t meet me until after High School, you’ll find someone,” I offered him a friendly pat on the head, “Now go enjoy yourself.”

 

Smiling at me, he waved and made his way to the RV, Mabel popping her head through the doorway and the two of them yelled “Bye, Great Aunt (Y/N)!” before slamming the door shut and the driver -probably Stan- stepped on the gas, racing down the road and out of sight.

 

Sighing with a grin, I made my way back inside and went straight to the vending machine, inputting the access code and waiting for it to slowly reveal the doorway behind it. I couldn’t say I was a huge fan of the vending machine being used as a door, although I also wasn’t a fan of my beautiful home being turned into a tourist trap, but at least it wasn’t the whole house. Count your blessings, I guess. As I reached the second level, Ford’s study, the doors of the elevator opened and I was greeted with the sight of my fiancé hunched over his desk, head hung low as he stared down the pages in front of him. He was so focused he didn’t hear the elevator doors opening and closing, nor my footsteps approaching him from behind.

 

Snaking my arms slowly around his sounders, my fingers laced together when they met at his front, “You work too hard, you know that?” I whispered, placing a kiss behind his left ear.

 

“Working hard is what I do best,” he shook his head, a light chuckle rumbling in his chest. I pulled the chair away from his desk and spun it around until he faced me, gently placing myself in his lap and rewrapping my arms around him.

 

“Well, we’re the only ones home, now. I think you deserve a break,” bumping my nose lightly against his, I could see the blush raising on his cheeks already.

 

He stuttered as I ran one hand through his hair, looking like he wanted to protest but not finding any real reason to turn away my advances. When you’re together as long as we are, you find a lot of time to fool around, and Ford has never been the type to initiate without giving it away with his red-hot blush and sweaty palms. His mouth opened and closed like a fish in water for a couple seconds before I pulled him into a kiss, causing him to grasp me by the hips and relax against me.

 

“Wait, wait, wait,” he mumbled, pulling away with a nervous glint in his eyes, “Are you sure? I mean, you don’t have to, I know it must be strange with our situation…”

 

“Ford, trust me,” I cupped his cheek, running a thumb under the darkening bags below his eyes, “There’s nobody in the world that I would rather be with than you. That includes… intimately,” lowering my voice, I smirked. He looked hesitant again, “Hey, I don’t care if you’re technically older now, I still love you. Plus, you really make the silver-fox look work,” I winked.

 

Despite his unsure gaze, he chuckled. His resolved crumbled before me as he wrapped his arms tightly around my waist and lifted me from his lap, carrying me back to his desk. Placing me on the edge, he laid kisses down my jaw, neck and shoulder, pushing the loose t-shirt aside and biting lightly. He didn’t usually leave marks, mostly because the days following our first time were filled with jokes and quips from me relating to the purple bruises up and down my chest. But each time we spent together, he seemed to get just a little bit bolder, not by much, but enough for me to notice. I was brought back to the present when his hands made their way under my shirt, slowly dragging it upwards and brushing his thumbs over my bra-clad breasts, and then the shirt was gone altogether, now laying on the floor in a small heap.

 

I helped him remove his signature coat and sweater, letting them add to the pile on the floor while my fingers ran through his hair and my nails lightly scratched over his scalp. He groaned, pulling my closer and fiddling with the clasp of my bra, I giggled when it took him a while – it wasn’t the first time he’d struggled with this part. He quickly silenced me with a long, drawn out kiss, pulling the now open bra down my arms and tossing it to the growing pile.

 

“I missed this,” I grinned, looking at his torso once he removed his shirt, splaying my hands over his chest and biting down on my lower lip. He leaned forward to press a kiss between my exposed breasts when I noticed something on his left shoulder blade… _Is that a tattoo?_ “Hey, what’s that?” I asked, the tips of my fingers running over what seemed to be a cartoonish star, smiling and offering two thumbs up with the text ‘Hey now, I’m an all star!’ in bubble writing.

 

I tried so hard to supress my fit of giggles upon seeing it, “Oh god, please (Y/N), just don’t acknowledge it…” he obviously wasn’t a fan of the ink.

 

“But why?! Why do you have that?” he might not find it amusing, but I certainly did, my feeling of arousal quickly replaced by giddiness over the strange tattoo.

 

“Can this wait? It’s not exactly a… sexy story…” I believed him, judging by the embarrassment on his face. I could also tell that he was eager to go back to our previous task by the bulge in his slacks.

 

Cupping his jaw with both hands, I pulled him back to me, engaging in another kiss and this time biting softly on his lip, asking for permission to deepen it. Once granted, I ran the tip of my tongue over the roof of his mouth and reached for his belt, now fighting for dominance with his own pink tongue. The buckle unclasped finally and the belt slipped from the loops of his slacks, now giving me the opportunity to unbutton them and relieve him of their confines. His hands were making their way down my lower back and to the edged of my jeans, hooking a finger in at each side and slowly pulling them down, underwear included.

 

Placing a single kiss on my right knee, he moved away to remove the last remaining item of clothing and stepped between my legs, holding each one by the back of the knee before laying a kiss against my lips again.

 

“I love you.”

 

Thirty years really seemed to make little difference, obviously for myself, I hadn’t been waiting long, but he hadn’t slept with anyone since before falling into the portal. Yet, he didn’t seem desperate, most of the time looking at me with adoration and longing, like he was just happy to be back and holding me in his arms again, and for that, I was grateful. Grateful, to have such an amazing man in my life, someone to hold me, care for me, love me. I felt that love now more than ever as we sat in post-coital bliss, his arm around my back and drawing invisible lines on my stomach while I curled into him, nuzzling my face into the junction between his shoulder and his neck. We had partially redressed, only putting on underwear before collapsing and just enjoying each other presence.

 

“So…” I broke the silence, the fingers of my left hand running through the grey hair of his chest, “The tattoo.”

 

The groan he emitted made it obvious that he didn’t want to be back on this topic, “Must you know?” my owlish and bashful expression gave away that I really did, “I got it while with a tribe of octopus-armed warrior piglets. Believe me, it is on the list of my most serious regrets,” he began to sit up now, “Come now, I really must get back to work.”

 

“Fine,” I groaned, weakly. I collected my clothes from the floor and placed them on the desk for ease of not having to lean down multiple times, grabbing Ford’s large coat in the process. Before passing it to him, I could feel something in one of the inner pockets, reaching in and coming out with two pictures, both worn, but one still in better condition than the other.

 

The first was of Ford and Stan as children, both stood atop a small boat that had ‘Stan O’ War’ written in white pain on the side. It always made my heart ache, seeing childhood images of Ford, he was adorable, but it would remind me of how much I had really hoped of having my own children with him, praying that they would be just like him. The second picture, newer than the first but still a couple decades old, was of Ford and I, sat in his dorm back at Backupsmore. We were both sat on the old sofa in his and Fiddleford’s living room, Ford propped up against the arm of the sofa while I laid between his legs, back pressed against his chest. I remembered this day, he’d just finished his thesis and I begged him to read it to me, I was on the verge of falling asleep to the sound of his voice when a clicking noise distracted us both, seeing Fiddleford running out of the room seconds later. He’d been sneaking around with a polaroid camera, trying to capture the cute moment between us, and I thanked him quietly for doing so when an embarrassed Ford couldn’t hear.

 

“I thought we lost this picture,” I whispered to him, now feeling his arms around my middle and head resting on my shoulder.

 

“I kept it with me during my time building the portal, I spent so much time in the basement and surrounded by papers, I didn’t want to lose it, so it just stayed in my pocket,” knowing that he did this replaced my earlier heartache with a pleasant feeling, one of love and hope.

 

We stayed like that, just him holding me, for about five minutes before I heard the sound of the old RV outside, promising to bring Ford something to eat and drink after welcoming everyone back home. I had only taken one step out of the door before I froze.

 

“That’s what you get, that’s what you get!” a man in a corn costume yelled, pointing accusingly at Stan before running off, baseball bat in hand.

 

“I don’t understand,” Stan mumbled, looking at the graffiti covered Shack, “I completely don’t deserve this!”

 

Sighing heavily, I turned on my heels and stepped back inside.


	5. Birthday Blues

**Reader’s POV**

 

Today, I decided it would be a good time to bond with Mabel, mostly because Ford was planning to ask Dipper to assist him and keeping the female twin company seemed like a decent idea. As soon as I woke up this morning, Ford explained to me that the containment for the rift was cracking and the only solution was to find a certain adhesive to seal it up, so his plan was to take Dipper with him to the old alien crash site. We were currently in the back room where Ford would keep less important research, I had just finished brushing and tying back my hair and moved to the side so he could see the standing mirror and proceed with his rather… unorthodox way of shaving. He’d apparently learned how to do this during his time away, assuring me that it was safe.

 

The small explosion rattled the house, but Ford seemed unfazed as he patted down his now-mostly-smooth chin, “Dipper! My face in on fire!”

 

Dipper raced through the door to the back room and was greeted by Ford patting down his face with a towel and me supressing a chuckle, “Great Uncle Ford, are you okay?!”

 

“Oh, yes, I’m fine. I just said that to make sure you’d come in here quickly.”

 

“But your face _is_ on fire…”

 

“Yes,” he patted at the right side of his face, “It’s much faster than shaving.”

 

Shaking my head, I left the room with a smile and made my way down to the kitchen, grabbing a quick snack before I talked to Mabel. Barely five minutes had passed when I saw Ford and Dipper pass by towards the front door, both offering me a wave and ‘goodbye’ when the eccentric twelve-year-old girl bounded into the room.

 

“Hey, Mabel. I was wondering if you wanted to do something today?”

 

“Great Aunt (Y/N)! Do you want to help me with my birthday mission? Soos and I were gonna go to the High School to see if we could throw the party there!” her bright smile was infectious and I felt my own smile spread over my lips.

 

“I’d love to help, I’ll even drive,” granted, I had to ask Soos if I could drive his truck, considering my car had been sold by Stan while I was packed away in a freezer, but I kind of missed the feeling of being behind the wheel. Thankfully, Soos seemed to understand and actually thanked me for offering to drive.

 

Pulling up outside Gravity Falls High School, I switched off the engine and we all hopped out, Mabel fidgeting in her place and dying to burst through the front doors. As soon as we did though, her excitement dampened slightly.

 

“Whoa, Soos, I thought you said this place was empty.”

 

“My dawgs! What up!” Wendy called out, waving us over.

 

“Wendy! What are you doing here?” Mabel asked with wide eyes, yet still grinning away.

 

The redhead groaned, rolling her eyes, “High School registration.”

 

“Oh! You know, I’m only a year away from High School myself! Would you say your experience is more rom-com or wacky romp?” her enthusiasm was just too adorable.

 

“More like teen horror movie!” the teen wiggled her fingers, “High School is the worst! Classes get super hard, your body just flat out turns against you and worst of all… Everybody hates you!”

 

Looking across the gym, it could be seen that multiple teens were glaring at each other, one boy cradling himself on the ground, mumbling “Can’t do it! Can’t do another year!” and who I assume was Robbie, from previous discussion with Wendy, punched the wall, yelling about his hormones being like ‘a sweaty cage’.

 

“Why aren’t they singing about following their dreams?” her question confused me a little, not knowing where High School and music were connected, besides the class itself, “TV taught me that High School was like some sort of musical.”

 

Wendy whipped around, gripping the smaller girl by her shoulders, “TV lied, man! If you can avoid growing up, do it! I’d give anything to be twelve again…” her solemn expression didn’t last long, quickly reverting back to cool and composed, “Anyway, what are you guys doing here?”

 

Mabel laughed, sounding dejected, “Oh, just looking for a place to have my… thirteenth… birthday party…” she curled into herself with each second that passed, it broke my heart to watch.

 

“Wendy… Borduroy? I-I mean Corduroy,” the older man, sat at the desk at the back of the gym, stated. Suddenly, most of the teen started laughing, pointing at Wendy and chanting “Borduroy, Borduroy”.

 

“See what I mean?” the girl grumbled, stalking away towards the desk. The look on Mabel’s face frightened me, she looked horrified. The poor girl just had her whole outlook on High School crushed and painted black within minutes.

 

Mabel was the first to leave, Soos following seconds behind, but I stayed for a minute, just watching the chaos ensue, how a place of education and learning could look so hostile was beyond me.

 

When I finally exited the building, I saw Soos offering Mabel comforting words, “Hey, I know what’ll make you feel better! Let’s deliver some invites to your friends, huh?”

 

“Yeah!” her perky tone was back, standing from the front steps and making her way back to the truck. Focusing on the road as I pulled away from the pavement, I didn’t see the girls terrified gaze after reading the school’s tampered-with sign, ‘NO ESCSAPE’.

 

We reached the house of either Candy or Grenda, which one, I wasn’t sure – Mabel only gave me the address, saying that they should both be there. While she went to deliver the invitations, Soos and I stayed in the truck and played I Spy.

 

“Okay, I spy with my little eye… something green!” Soos yelled.

 

I hummed, observing our surroundings for a moment, “I’m going to guess… trees!”

 

“Whoa, dudette, you are way too good at this!” he sounded so amazed it made me giggle. He was good company, especially when a good laugh was required.

 

“So, Soos, how long have you worked at the Mystery Shack for?”

 

“Oh, man, I’ve worked there since I was twelve! Stan gave me the job when I went to return a screwdriver,” I was surprised he’d been there that long and from such a young age. Though maybe that explained his attachment to the place, it must be like a second home to him, “Mrs. Ford, are you mad at Stan for turning your home into the Mystery Shack?”

 

The name forced a hearty laugh from me, “Please, Soos, I’m not married yet! Can’t call me Mrs. anything just yet. And no, I’m not really mad at him, at least he kept the place standing while Ford and I weren’t exactly around,” it was true, and while I loved my home dearly, Stan was family and he did spend thirty years trying to bring his brother back instead of continuing on with his schemes to become rich, “I’m just happy to be awake and surrounded by people I love, again. Speaking of which, do you have anyone special, Soos? Like a girlfriend?”

 

He blushed now, “Yeah, I do, her name is Melody,” he seemed to get distracted from his own embarrassment as he talked about her, “She lives in Portland, so we video chat a lot! We share a lot of interests, we both like riding tiny trains, eating at Hoo-Ha Owl’s Pizzamatronic Jamboree and believe that Meat Cute is the lunch meat of the future!”

 

“That sounds really nice, it’s good to have someone you can enjoy life with. That’s exactly how I felt when I started dating Ford, studying together, watching sci-fi movies, anything we both liked before just felt better after we started doing them together,” Soos smiled, relaxing in his seat and seeming relieved that someone understood how he felt, understandable, judging by his earlier awkwardness.

 

The sound of the passenger-side door opening ripped our attention away from the conversation, seeing Mabel climb her way into the truck and slam the door shut. She looked drained and downright depressed. Her friends probably said they couldn’t make the party, poor girl, today must have gone worse than she estimated. The drive back to the Shack was silent, neither I or Soos dared to speak in fear that Mabel would break into tears there and then, it wasn’t until we were inside and Soos had retreated to the back room when I spoke.

 

“Mabel?” I whispered, “I’m sorry about today, but everything won’t be as bad as it looks now. Your party will still be amazing and High School doesn’t have to be bad unless you let it,” I tried to pick my words carefully, hoping that she would look on the bright side.

 

She merely hummed, her back still facing me as she walked to the stairs and left for her room. Stanley emerged from the living room, peeking up the stairs before sending me a questioning glance, “Maybe you should go talk to her, Stan. You know her better than me, maybe you can cheer her up after everything today.”

 

He nodded in agreement and made his way upstairs, leaving me to stand there and sigh. Ford and Dipper probably wouldn’t be back for another ten minutes, judging by the darkening sky, so I’ll just wait downstairs since that’s likely the first place Ford will go upon returning. The time seemed to fly by while waiting, probably because I was on the verge of passing out in Ford’s chair, I must have been more tired than I thought.

 

“Oh, there you are, (Y/N)!” Ford exclaimed happily, stepping out of the elevator, “I have wonderful news! We found the adhesive we were looking for and Dipper agreed to stay here and be my apprentice, I can teach him so many wonderful things.”

 

Standing from the chair, I walked over to his place in the middle of the room and hugged him, “Well, I can’t say Mabel will take that news well. Especially after the day she’s had.”

 

“I’m sorry to hear that, but Mabel’s a tough girl, I’m sure she’ll be fine with it if it’s what Dipper really wants. Also, for the sake of being truthful,” he placed both hands on my upper arms, pushing me back lightly so I could see his face, “Dipper and I ran into a bit of trouble earlier today, the security system for the spacecraft seemed to reactive and… Well, I almost got sent away by one of their drones, some form of prison system that’s far away from Earth.”

 

My heart rate was noticeably increasing as he spoke, my mind trying to comprehend what he was saying, “You’re telling me I almost lost you? Again? How the hell did you escape?”

 

“Don’t worry, I’m here, I’m fine! Dipper saved me by crashing the drone out in the forest. I walked away with nothing worse than a few cuts and scrapes,” he offered me a reassuring smile and I released a heavy sigh, shaking my head before wrapping my arms around him again and burying my face into the crook of his neck.

 

We only pulled away from our embrace when we heard the elevator moving, signalling that someone was coming down. Ford went over to some shelves and began rearranging a few bottles and containers, glancing at the now open elevator doors to see a crestfallen Dipper wander out, “Let me guess, Mabel didn’t take it well?”

 

“I-I don’t know… Maybe I’m making the wrong decision. I need to think about this.”

 

“Dipper, right now, we need to focus on the mission,” Ford stated in his serious voice, perking up as he pulled a piece of metal from his coat, “Now, come on. I’ve got the glue, hand me the rift and let’s make history.”

 

Dipper seemed to feel better at the mention of fixing the rift, rifling through his back pack and pulling out a pink slip of paper – Mabel’s party invites, “What?! Oh no, the rift!”

 

Seconds passed and suddenly the ground was shaking, sending me off balance and clutching onto Ford’s arm to steady myself. The three of us quickly raced toward the elevator and Ford mashed the button for floor 1 multiple times until the door closed. It felt like time had slowed down and the metal box couldn’t move any slower, still being rattled by the Earth’s shaking. Finally, the elevator stopped and we ran up the stairs as fast as possible, myself almost slipping once or twice, and we made a mad dash for the front door. A strong wind was pushing from all directions, sending trees back and forth rapidly while the sky was a menacing red. But the worst part had to be the giant X-shaped tear in the sky, a tear in the universe… a gateway to another dimension.

 

“What’s going on?!” Dipper yelled over the loud wind, pointing towards the sky, “What is that?!”

 

“We’re too late!” Ford pulled me to his side in a protective manner, “It’s the end of the world…”

 

The only thing that was louder than the wind was the maniacal laughter, something that sounded other-worldly and intruded your mind like nails on a chalk board. We were surely doomed.


	6. Weirdmageddon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, hopefully this final chapter will make up for the shortness of four and five. I never actually intended on writing anything after Chapter 3, but a lovely little comment convinced me to go ahead and write another three. Hope you enjoy.

**Reader’s POV**

 

“(Y/N), please, do this for me! Just stay inside the Shack, where it’s safe!”

 

Weirdmageddon, as Ford labelled it, was spreading rapidly and it terrified everyone and everything residing in the quaint town of Gravity Falls. Everything from deer to Gnomes was making a mad dash through the forest and away from the middle of town, but it’s doubtful that running would be a useful tactic right now. Ford was insistent that I stay behind while he and Dipper leave to take down Bill, but I couldn’t stand the idea of losing him again and if he went out there, he could die and I wouldn’t even know, I’d be waiting for the return that would never happen.

 

“I can’t just let you go out there, Ford. I can’t lose you again,” my throat constricted around my words, thanks to the tears now leaking from my eyelids.

 

He smoothed down my hair and placed a chase kiss on my forehead, “Have some faith in me, (Y/N). I promise you, I’ll be back and Bill will be gone.”

 

Taking a deep breath, I nodded, “Okay, just _please_ , be safe.”

 

 

**Ford’s POV**

 

I really did feel bad, leaving her at the Shack, but she knows I’m doing it for her. Coming with me is a risk that I can’t let her take. Dipper and I had just reached the town's bell tower, the perfect spot to overlook Bill and his gaggle of freaks.

 

“My quantum destabiliser, I’ve been waiting a long time to use this!” opening the case, labelled ‘Experiment 618’, revealed the large gun-like weapon. Currently, it was our best shot at ridding the world of Bill Cipher, “We’re only gonna have one chance to take this shot,” prepping the gun and lifting it to shoulder height, I looked down the sight, “Steady… Steady… And…”

 

My finger was slowly pulling back on the trigger, prepared to fire once Bill was perfectly in line with the sight. The sudden laughter behind me caused me to jump, not expecting the clocktower’s bell to be effected by the occasional weirdness waves and start giggling about being “Alive now”. My line of sight was compromised by the disturbance, the gun jolting upwards as my finger clutched the trigger, sending a bolt of blue light towards the demonic triangle and straight through his top hat.

 

“Oh no!” I yelled, already calculating the repercussions of my mistake.

 

“Well, well, well,” the dream demon spoke, his eye and bow tie spinning around his body towards my direction, “And here I thought today couldn’t get any better!” a streak of white light shot out of Bill’s fingertip, aimed right for the clocktower. Everything above the platform we were standing on was obliterated, Dipper and I being sent to the floor with the force of the impact. A wooden beam pinned me to the ground, but luckily Dipper was fine, he could still run.

 

“Great Uncle Ford!” the boy yelled, panicked at the sight of me trapped and helpless.

 

“Dipper! Take my journals!” I pushed my backpack towards him, “Listen, I know of one other way to defeat Bill. It’s-“ I didn’t have time to explain, the whirring sound behind me indicating Bill’s presence, “Oh no, Dipper, run! Get down!”

 

“Good ole six fingers!” the blood-red eye appeared above me when Dipper ran for cover, what may have been the pupil was now in the shape of a six-fingered hand. The hand I used on my journals, “I’ve been waiting an _eternity_ to have a chat face to face!” the glow of a red light surrounded me, lifting me from the ground along with the wood and stone holding me down, “Everyone, this Armageddon wouldn’t be possible without help from our friend here. Give him a six-fingered hand!”

 

His fellow monsters in the group proceeded to applaud, encouraging the dream demon, “This Brainiac was the one who built the portal in the first place! Ah, don’t look so sour, Fordsy! It’s not too late to join me!” he lowered me to hover in front of the group of monsters, “With that extra finger, you’d fit right in with my freaks!”

 

Clenching my fists, I growled, “I’ll die before I join you! I know your weakness, Bill!”

 

“I know yours too, Sixer! She’s a real looker!” my blood boiled as he talked about (Y/N), his little freaks joining in with a chorus of laughter, “I also know a riddle! Why did the old man do this?” he held up both hands in a gesture that resembled animal claws.

 

Confusion took over my mind, not understanding what he meant, so I repeated his action, “This?” the last thing I saw before it all went black was Bill’s eye, illuminated by a bright light that came towards me faster than I could register.

 

 

**Reader’s POV**

 

Four days. It had been four days since Weirdmageddon started and four days since anyone had seen Ford, Dipper and Mabel. Stan and I started keeping an eye out for people outside the Shack that we could take in for shelter, many of them being thoroughly grateful for our help. Stan acted as the leader now, he actually did a pretty good job of it too, assigning people shifts for lookout and rationing food. He tried to talk to me a couple of times, offering comforting words such as “Don’t worry yourself, toots. If I know my brother, and I do, I know that he’s a stubborn genius that doesn’t back down” and “He and the kids will probably walk through that door any minute now”, but even the second one didn’t sound like he was convinced of that himself.

 

“That brain o’ yours is just as loud as his!” the loud yelling of a male voice tore me from my negative thoughts. I saw an older man stood in front of me, long white beard and tattered brown hat making him look quite strange, while the green glasses perched on his nose made him look intelligent in a way. He seemed familiar… but why? “S’been a long time, (Y/N).”

 

I gasped, “Fiddleford? Oh my god… You, uh… You look a little different to how you did thirty years ago,” I nervously chuckled.

 

“Can’t say the same for you, darlin’!” he laughed, sounding a tad looney before coughing and composing himself, “Sorry ‘bout that!”

 

“How have you been since I last saw you? How’s your son?”

 

“Oh, well after I left Ford as his partner, I used that memory gun to erase what I saw on the other side o’ that portal! And then I just kept usin’ it, and now I’m here!” I giggled lightly at the little jig he proceeded to do, bouncing back and forth on each leg, “It’s good to see you again, darlin’.”

 

The soft and calm look on his face put me at ease, and I chose to ignore the fact that he skipped my question about his son, understanding that he might not want to speak about it, “You too, F,” I leaned forwards, wrapping the old man in a friendly embrace which he returned seconds later.

 

“I know you’re scared. Everyone is,” his soft-spoken words relaxed me, but I still had to resist the urge to cry.

 

“Everyone!” one of the Gnomes by the door loudly whispered, “I hear somethin’ outside!”

 

That was all it took to send everyone in the Shack scrambling, collecting together as a group at the back of the room and facing the door, ready to fight whatever came through it. Four humanoid figures burst through the door, emitting what sounded like a battle cry and everyone inside the Shack did the same, raising weapons to look threatening. That stopped, however, when Dipper and Mabel cheered happily at the sight of their grunkle Stan, running inside to tackle him in a hug.

 

“Kids!” he crouched down, opening his arms for them to fall into, “I can’t believe it! I thought I lost you two.”

 

Soos was on him in a flash, tears in his eyes, “Mr. Pines! It’s really you! I’ve been hugging strangers to practice for this moment.”

 

Wendy didn’t hesitate to join in the large group hug, “We missed you, you old codger!”

 

“I’ve missed you old knuckleheads, too. It’s good to have you back.”

 

When the hug disbanded, Mabel and Dipper’s eyes locked onto me, both running in my direction to offer the same treatment Stan received only seconds ago. I grinned as they held onto me, Mabel exclaiming “I’m glad you’re okay, Great Aunt (Y/N)!”, but Dipper’s excitement withered away, a silent understanding between us that he was sorry. Sorry that Ford wasn’t with them, but a glint of determination in his eyes told me that he was okay, that we could still get him back.

 

Turning back to Stan, Dipper asked what the four newcomers must all be wondering, “So… What’s everyone… doing here?” the tiny golf ball people surprised him, a startled sound leaving him.

 

“Yeah, there’s like monsters and Gnomes, and is Pacifica wearing a potato sack?” Mabel added.

 

“Hey, even in a sack, I still look better than you!” the blonde girl defended.

 

The discussion went back and forth between a few more people, fizzling off when Grenda uncomfortably states “It’s happening again” after Larry King’s wax head starts munching on her hair. Thankfully, Multi-Bear was kind enough to slide the vent shut and save Grenda’s hair from further consumption.

 

“Hey, everyone! Eye Bat!” one of the Manotaurs yelled, pointing outside.

 

“Evasive manoeuvres!” a gnome instructed as Stan made a dash for the door, slamming it shut and steering the kids away from the windows.

 

All lights were extinguished and we waited in darkness, praying that the Eye Bat would leave. A few brave people peeked outside after five minutes, lowly announcing that it was safe. Everyone spread out and quietly exchanged conversation with friends and family, me, staying close to the kids. Stan lit a fire that would illuminate the whole room, stretching his arms out and explaining to the four who’d just arrived that this was “Home base”, practically the only normal thing left in town. He told them about how when Weirdmageddon started, he hid inside the Shack and realised that it was safe, thanks to the unicorn spell they used which kept out all weirdness.

 

“Grunkle Stan, we can’t all just hide inside the Shack!” Dipper retaliated when Stan mentioned that the plan was to hide and do nothing, aside from eat Gnomes when the brown meat was gone, “There’s a town in need of saving. Me and Ford tried to do it, but he got captured by Bill…”

 

“Serves that jerk right!” Stan grumbled, earning a glare from me, “My brother’s had some stupid plans, but going up against an all-powerful space demon was his worst one yet!” he walked past the children, tin of brown meat in hand, “Trust me, we have everything we need right here,” once sat down, the Multi-Bear began rubbing his shoulders while Gnomes fanned him with large leaves, “It’s not the Ritz, but at least monsters inside know how to massage. You know shiatsu?”

 

“Yes, I’ve taken some classes,” the bear replied.

 

Dipper looked disappointed, “So you’re just going to let Bill win?”

 

“Look, kiddo. You’ve got a good deal here! Besides, I’m sure wherever the rest of the townsfolk are, they’re fine,” as he waved away Dipper’s concerns, his hand smacked down on the TV remote.

 

‘This is Shandra Jimenez, reporting live from inside of Bill’s castle! Here, for the first time, are images of what’s happened to the captured townsfolk,’ the camera zoomed in on what looked like a giant throne, but the disturbing part was what that throne was made of, ‘Viewers are advised to look away if they don’t want to see their friends turned into a twisted throne of human agony.’

 

“Mom and dad?” Pacifica quivered.

 

“My family!” Wendy yelled.

 

“Deputy Durland!” Sherriff Blubs cried.

 

‘Is there no one who will save the people of this town?! I’m Shandra Jimenez, and I’m being turned into stone by a flying eyeball,’ static overtakes the screen, the last image being the stony figure of the news reporter.

 

Everyone gasped, Pacifica following up with an “Oh no” before looking at the ground, “My parents are bad… But even they don’t deserve to be turned to stone…”

 

“Curse you Bill!” the Sherriff yelled, punching the ground. It wasn’t until now that I realised how selfish I had been over the past few days, wallowing in self-pity because the man I loved had been captured. I was surrounded by people who had suffered the same loss, and I just sat back and felt sorry for myself.

 

Mabel gathered everyone’s attention, climbing atop Multi-Bear so she could be seen clearly, “Guys, don’t you see? Our friends need us, but we can only save them if we fight back!”

 

“Mabel is right!” Dipper took her hand, pulling himself up and taking a stance beside his sister, “Bill wants us to run and hide. He wants us to think he’s invincible. But Ford told me, before he was captured, that he knows Bill’s secret weakness,” this sparked curiosity around the room, everyone now mumbling about the secret weakness, “Now, if we band together, if we combine all of our strength, our smarts, our… Whatever Toby has.”

 

“Various rashes!”

 

“Then we might just be able to rescue Ford, learn Bill’s weakness and save Gravity Falls!” everyone cheered, motivated by Dipper’s words and prepared to go head on with the dangers outside.

 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Have you all forgotten who’s in charge here?” Stan questioned, “Besides, we’re only safe inside! It’s not like we can take the Mystery Shack to Bill!”

 

He had a point, and everyone seemed to agree, judging by the silence. Though, that silence was quickly broken by a loud voice speaking nonsense, “W-whoo! Holy hootenanny! Flapjack and fiddle banjos! Sorry, sorry, got a little excited,” his foot tapped a few more times before he slapped his knee, “What I meant to say is, I think I might have figured out a way to fight Bill and rescue Ford. But we’re all goin’ to have to work together. Now,” he snapped his fingers, a gnome lifting his green specks onto Fiddleford’s face.

 

He signalled for everyone to come closer, whispering his plan as if the walls had ears.

 

 

**Ford’s POV**

 

“Let me go! You insane, three-sided…”

 

My voice trailed off and disappeared as I realised I was no longer outside, but now in a room that could only be described as very red and unnerving. A fireplace emitted a comfortable heat and lit up the room, especially the portrait of Bill above it.

 

“Wha- What is this place?”

 

I tried to take a step forward but a blue chain and shackle held me back, the rattling of metal not drowning out the smooth sound of a piano tune and Bill’s shrill voice intruding my ears.

 

“We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when!” both Bill and the piano raised out of the ground, surrounded by a circle of blue flames, “Oh, I know we’ll meet again, some sunny day!”

 

“Wh-Where am I?” I demanded.

 

Bill twisted himself around to see me, raising a cocktail glass of purple liquid, “You’re in the penthouse suite, kid. The tip of the pyramid!” he clicked his fingers, a glass of liquid similar to his now in my outstretched hand, “Have a drink! Make yourself comfortable,” I did as he said, stepping back and landing on a very questionable surface, “You know, that couch is made of living human skin?”

 

He was right, I realized, as the couch grew various facial featured and groaned, sticking out a tongue. I made a startled noise as I stood, backing away from the monstrosity, “Quit the games, Cipher! If I’m still alive, you must want something from me!”

 

“Ah, sharp as ever, Fordsy. As you may have noticed, I’ve recently had a multi-dimensional makeover! I control space, matter, and now that that dumb babies outta the way, time itself!” he demonstrated his abilities by flipping the room, everything now in a reverse order, including myself. Everything that was on the right side was now on the left, and vice-versa, “But I wasn’t always this way,” he stared at his glass as he clicked his fingers, myself and every floating object in the room falling to the floor, “You think those chains are tight? Imagine living in the second dimension. Flat minds in a flat world with flat dreams. I liberated my dimension, Stanford, and I’m here to liberate yours! There’s just one hitch! As it turns out, my weirdness can’t escape the magical confines of this town,” his eye projected exactly what he was talking about, a bubble over the town which Bill couldn’t penetrate, “There’s something keeping me in.”

 

“Incredible,” I gasped, “Gravity Falls’ Natural Law of Weirdness Magnetism, I studied this years ago!”

 

“And did you find a way to undo it?”

 

“Of course, there’s a simple equation that could collapse the barrier, but I’d never tell you!”

 

“Listen Ford,” the demon started, snapping his fingers and a scared but dulled scream echoed throughout the room. I looked to my left and saw (Y/N), hands and feet bound with the same blue chains that keep me in my place, a gag in her mouth preventing her from speaking clearly, “Tell me that equation and finally, your dimension will be free. Anything will be possible, I’ll remake a fun world, a better world! A party that never ends with a host that never dies! No more restrictions, no more laws! You’d be one of us, all-powerful, greater than ever imagined. You’ll even get to keep your precious girlfriend around, and all I need is your help.”

 

“You’re insane if you think I’ll help you!” I tried not to look in her direction, I couldn’t give Bill the satisfaction of me visibly worried about her.

 

He laughed his usual laugh, “I’m insane either way, Brainiac! But have it your way! I’ll just fish around and get that equation directly out of your mind!” the world shifted, a stone statue now taking his place on the sofa and his outline hovering in the air.

 

“Not so fast! You know the rules, Bill,” indeed, he did, and that’s why his scowling form lowered back into his physical form, “You may be able to haunt my dreams, but you can’t enter my mind unless I shake your hand and let you in!”

 

He sighed, tilting his glass back and forth, “You’re making this so much harder than it needs to be!” the blue chain that had disappeared earlier returned, this time with two more that clamped around both of my ankles and neck. As he chains held me in the air, I looked in (Y/N)’s direction, seeing no emotion in her eyes as she burst into blue flames with a click of Bill’s fingers, disappearing within seconds. Inwardly, I was relieved, he didn’t actually have her, she was still safe and far away from this monster, “Everyone has a weakness, tough guy! I’ll make you talk! It’s only a matter of time!”

 

I released a scream from deep within me, staring into the demon’s eye and knowing nothing good is going to happen very soon.

 

 

**Reader’s POV**

 

McGucket unravelled the large sheet of paper onto the table for everyone to see, “Alright, I’ve made thing-a-madiculous robo-majigs in my day, but this is the first one that won’t be used for evil!”

 

Dipper made a sound of amazement, “These blueprints are incredible, McGucket!”

 

“This is your most amazing invention yet,” Mabel continued.

 

“Question,” Soos spoke out, “Does it have any gun-swords? I watch a lot of anime and, huh, trust me, you’re gonna want some gun-swords.”

 

“What’s an ‘anime’?” both myself and Fiddleford asked, deeply confused.

 

Soos placed his hands on mine and F’s shoulders, “We have much to discuss.”

 

“Discuss nothing! These scribbled are nothing but a bunch of cockamamie balderdash! Excuse my French,” Stan yelled, leaning back in his chair with arms crossed.

 

“Je ne crois pas que ce soit le français.“

 

“How would you even find a bunch of idiots crazy enough to build it?” the older man continued, clearly frustrated.

 

“Grunkle Stan,” Mabel directed the attention towards herself, “You’re looking at those idiots!”

 

Everyone in the room cheered, a happy “Whoo, idiots!” coming from Soos. That was all the motivation needed for everyone to get moving, McGucket giving out orders and blueprints to anyone he could. A group of Manotaurs, Gnomes and Sev’ral Timez were sent out to gather supplies from the junkyard, mainly scrap metal and electrical wiring. While I felt uncomfortable with seeing my house get holes knocked through the walls and ceilings, I knew it was our best chance of getting Ford and the rest of the town back, so I let it happen. Stan wasn’t as quiet as me, though, protesting as furniture was moved and ropes were thread through said holes in walls. But, after a couple of hours, everything was done, McGucket’s crazy and elaborate scheme was complete, now we just had to wait until morning.

 

We all gathered around the campfire, some merely absorbing the heat in silence, others chatting and expressing their enthusiasm for tomorrow. Mabel had passed around a number of sweaters for everyone to wear, something to fight off the cold and funnily enough, a lot of the sweaters represented their wearers. Wendy’s had a picture of an axe, Toby’s matched his punk look with a pink skull and the Sherriff’s said ‘Save Durland’ in large letters. Mine wasn’t as fancy as everyone else’s, but at the same time that fact comforted me. It was simple and my favourite colour.

 

I glanced in the direction of Stan, sat away from everyone else and grouching about their enthusiasm, expressing his frustration towards the old Gnome that seems to only know the word ‘Shmebulock’. A part of me understood where he was coming from when he told the kids how he felt, that he was just a screw up and Ford got to be the hero, and then that he already saved him once, yet never received a ‘Thank you’. Ford was stubborn, a trait that every fiancée can recognise in their partner, and personally, it was just one of the many reasons I loved him. But for Stan, it was a different perspective, the under-achiever that was kicked out of his home and given the cold-shoulder by his best friend in the same night. He felt bitter towards his brother because he somehow still got to be the hero, even when he was the one needing to be saved.

 

I only managed to stop thinking over this situation when my eyes fell shut and I drifted off into a deep sleep without realising. I woke up the next morning with Mabel curled up in my side, Dipper’s head on her shoulder. Seeing their sleeping faces, calm and vulnerable, it made a sense of responsibility rise within me. They considered me family, and I them, so it was my duty to keep them safe.

 

“Alright, fella’s! Let’s hope this turns out better than my other inventions!” F yelled, excitement evident in his tone. Everyone was once again gathered together inside the Shack, mentally preparing ourselves to go head to head with a group of monsters and their demon leader.

 

“Everybody ready?” Mabel looked around the room, seeing nothing but determined faces, “Dipper, now!” and with that, said boy pulled as hard as he could on a leaver, powering the gears and wheels that would get this show on the road. A low rumble echoed through the room as it started shaking, a tell-tale sign that the Shack was raising itself from the ground and powered up. McGucket planted himself in a chair that faced a bunch of monitors, steering the now-portable Shack in the direction of town and instructing certain people to certain functions, such as canons and control of the Shack’s robotic arms. Minutes ticked by as we now stood facing the monsters that invaded our world, all of them much larger than when they descended from the tear in the sky. Evening out the playing field, I guess.

 

I couldn’t supress the laugh that forced its way out of me at the sight of Stan racing around, panicked and yelling for an escape hatch. We were winning and he was too busy acting like a scaredy-cat to notice. Though, I might agree that we had a right to be nervous when Bill loomed over us like that, large eye glaring us down and his fist raised in the air. But the impact didn’t crush us, in fact, it didn’t cause any damage at all, and suddenly I was laughing again; standing behind Dipper and Mabel as they steer the left arm of the Shack towards Bill and let the dinosaur-for-a-hand grip onto his eye, pulling it straight out of his triangular body.

 

“Ah! My eye! Do you have any idea how long it takes to regenerate that?!”

 

“We’ve got him distracted! Now’s our chance!” Dipper turned to his sister.

 

“Rescue team,” she began, “Move out!”

 

We scattered, all eight members of the team strapping themselves into their parachutes and descending into the room below, the room that would launch us all into the air and towards the Fearamid. After ensuring that everyone -besides Stan- was ready, Wendy slammed her hand against the big red button and within seconds we were freefalling. Screams could be heard all around me as well as Mabel’s chaotic laughter, but I was focused, staring at the triangular entrance to the triangular tower. Pulling the cord on my chest, I started falling slower, gliding after the rest of the group towards the entrance and performing a tuck-and-roll upon landing.

 

“Man, it looks even worse up close…” Dipper mumbled. I raised my head to see what he was looking at, and I agreed, seeing the gigantic throne that was constructed entirely out of humans. The poor souls…

 

Mable grabbed hold of my hand and I looked at her surprised, wondering what was wrong. I saw the grappling hook in her hand and immediately understood what she meant, looping an arm around her and hugging her close as she fired the hook at the foot of the throne. As we ascended, the faces of the townsfolk became clearer and clearer. But my attention shifted at the sight of one person, preserved in gold, not stone.

 

“We found Great Uncle Ford! He’s golden, but not in a good way!” my great niece yelled to the others. I didn’t hear what the others yelled back, I could only focus on the face of my fiancé, one arm stretched out as if reaching for something, a scared and urgent look on his face.

 

“I know!” what sounded like tapping suddenly became audible, a child sized birdcage hanging from the ceiling and a white haired boy could be seen inside.

 

“Gideon?” the poor boy looked scared, traumatised. He was dancing, tapping his feet and swaying his arms, and it looked like all he wanted to do was stop, but he just couldn’t, “What happened to you?”

 

“Bill captured me! He’s been forcing me to do cute dances in this cage for all eternity! I’m so tired of being cute…” tears welled in his eyes as his voice wavered. Dipper appeared behind us, grappling hook in hand.

 

“How do we undo this?”

 

“Mayor Tyler! He’s the load-bearing human,” Gideon looked towards the bottom corner of the throne and sure enough, there was stood a man, a sash reading ‘Mayor’ across his chest, “Pull him out and the whole thing goes down!”

 

Dipper did as he said, yanking on the stony arm of the slender man. He kept pulling until, finally, he came loose, unfreezing and setting off a chain-reaction of the throne collapsing and everyone regaining consciousness. People ran to each other, greeting family and hugging friends, relieved to be reunited again. I turned at the sight of disappearing gold and saw Ford looking around the area, confusion fizzling into happiness as he opened his arms for his great niece and nephew.

 

“Kids! Ah, you did it! I knew I could count on you two!” his laughter sent a delightful shock through my heart, and all I wanted to do was hold him close and never let go. But when I saw Fiddleford make his way over, I decided to hold myself back a second, “Fiddleford! I-I haven’t seen you since we parted ways… You must hate me…”

 

McGucket watched him for a moment, a sad look in his eyes that soon turned sweet, “I tried forgettin’… Maybe I should try forgivin’. Come here, old friend,” he pulled Ford into a friendly embrace, a relieved smile on the other man’s face.

 

Pulling away from his old friend and partner, Ford looked my way, that lovesick look in his eyes. I pushed tears back as I approached him, slowly wrapping my arms around his neck and burying my face in his chest. He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around my waist, placing a kiss on my head and mumbling a low “I missed you”.

 

“Hey, good to see you too, bro. Now, let’s get outta here, huh?” Stan sounded annoyed, likely upset that his brother was getting all of the attention again.

 

“Listen, Uncle Ford, we don’t have a lot of time. Remember what you told me, right before you were frozen? That you knew Bill’s weakness,” Dipper skimmed over what his other uncle said, jumping to more important matters.

 

“Yeah, a secret way to defeat him,” Mabel added.

 

Ford pulled away from me, standing straight and looking determined, “Yes, I do! Now, does anyone have a pen? Pencil? Anything?” slipping on a pair of black gloves -specially tailored for his sixth digit- he waited for an answer, releasing a sound of acceptance when he spotted the can of spray paint a few feet away, “Perfect.”

 

He began to paint a large circle on the ground, everyone watching him with uncertainty, “Uh, we’ve got Bill outside, but I don’t know how long we can keep him occupied…” Dipper said.

 

“Yes, yes. Good, good,” Ford half-heartedly mumbled in return.

 

Stan ran a hand over his face and released a grunt, “Drawin’ a circle on the floor. Well! He’s lost his mind!”

 

“My mind is fine, and there is a way to beat him – With this!” he opened his arms and gestured towards the pentagram-like circle on the floor. In the centre was Bill, or at least a drawing of Bill, and surrounding him were ten rectangles that followed the outer line of the circle. Each rectangle had a drawing inside of it.

 

“The world’s most confusing game of hopscotch?” Pacifica sassed.

 

“No, a prophecy,” his voice was low, but perked up with his next words, “Although, it would be a pretty fun game of hopscotch,” he proceeded to explain how he came to discover the prophecy, stating that back then, he only recognised a few of the symbols, but now in present-day he recognised more. Apparently, this was our chance at destroying Bill, the natives of Gravity Falls claiming that this was the strongest known way to do so, “This whole time, I thought it was just superstition. But, seeing you all here now, I finally understand that it’s destiny! Dipper, the pine tree. Mabel, the shooting star.”

 

“A question mark? This one’s unsolvable!” Soos, the man in the question mark shirt, states.

 

Everyone who matched a place in the circle took their places, and seeing no place for me to get involved, I stepped away and watched from the side. Dan Corduroy seemed to recognise me as I offered him a smile, likely to have a few questions regarding my still youthful state, but simply offered me a tight smile with that usual tough scowl etched into his features. He returned his gaze back to the circle of people before us, keeping his eyes on his only daughter and I looked at Ford, noticing him say something to Stan, the only person who had a place in the circle but refused to step in.

 

“The rest of you get out!” the townsfolk didn’t need to be told twice, everyone besides me fleeing to the exit for safety. Ford held his hand out to his brother, demanding that he take it, but the other man refused.

 

“You realise this is all a bunch of hogwash, right? You really think some caveman graffiti is gonna stop that monster?”

 

“Dang it, old man. Now’s not the time!”

 

“Come one!”

 

“What are you doing? You’re going to ruin this!”

 

“I’ve never held hands this long and I am very uncomfortable!”

 

“Whoa, hey! I’m not the enemy here, people. Don’t forget who literally created the end of the world!” he jabbed his thumb in Ford’s direction.

 

“I’m sorry, Stanley,” he replied, sadness in his tone, “I know. Just help me fix it, please!”

 

Looking from the ground to the eyes of his brother, he relented, “Fine, just do one thing: Say ‘Thank you’.”

 

“What?”

 

“I spent thirty years trying to bring you back into this dimension, and you still haven’t thanked me! You want me to shake your hand? Say ‘Thank you’!”

 

They did nothing but stare at each other for a moment or two, like they were waiting for the other to break any second, “Fine,” Ford breathed, “Thank you.”

 

Taking his brothers hand, at last, he turned to Soos, “Ah, see? Between me and him, I’m not always the bad twin.”

 

“… Between him and me,” my gut sank at Ford’s words. He really didn’t know how to filter himself in certain situations, did he? “Grammar, Stanley.”

 

Everyone watched in horror at the scene that unravelled before them, “I’ll ‘Grammar, Stanley’ you! You stuck up-” he grabbed Ford, effectively severing the circle and began to wrestle against him. Each one tried to throw a punch that the other would block, that was until Dipper and Mabel ran over and pulled them away from each other and a large shadow cast itself over the whole group.

 

“Oh no, it’s Bill,” the demon droned, “Right? Isn’t that what you were all thinking? Hey, Gideon. Why aren’t you dancing, huh? Chop, chop,” everyone slowly started backing away from the large hole in the wall where Bill was hovering, “Ho ho ho! This is just too perfect! Didn’t you Brainiac’s know the Zodiac only works if you all hold hands? And, what’s better, you’ve brought what is every threat to my power together in one easy to destroy circle!”

 

Finishing his monologue, he wove his arms out in front of him and cast a wave of fire over the circle, the paint burning away and distracting us from the red arms that protruded from the floor and wrapped Stan and Ford in a tight hold, “You guys wanna see what happens to your friends when you can’t get along?”

 

The members of the group didn’t back down, pulling out weapons and directing threats at Bill, claiming that they weren’t scared, “Oh, but you should be,” and with a click of his fingers, the group members around me started to glow a faint red, their eyes losing all emotion. Lifting them all from the ground, Bill looked over them while I stayed close to the kids, “You know, this castle could really use some decoration!” tapestries appeared on the walls, the terrified faces of our friends stitched into each one. I yelped as I felt myself being raised from the ground, reaching down to grasp at the kids reaching hands, but I was too far. Blue bars appeared around me and I recognised it as a cage.

 

“Looks like it’s too late for your friends, Stanford!” he pointed a thick black finger in the direction of Mabel and Dipper, a blue pyramid-shaped cage forming around them. Stanley called out to them, he and his brother looking fearful for the two, “But you can still save your family!”

 

“Last chance! Tell me how to take Weirdmageddon global and I’ll spare the kids, along with your girlfriend!”

 

“No! Don’t do it!”

 

“Yeah! Bill makes bad deals!”

 

“Don’t listen to him, Ford!”

 

Bill looked thoroughly unamused at our interruptions, spinning around to glare at the three of us before focusing on the children, “Don’t you toy with me, Shooting Star. I… see… everything!” his threatening tone didn’t last long as he burst out screaming, all thanks to Mabel spraying him in the eye with the same spray paint that Ford used earlier.

 

Dipper rummaged through his bag before pulling out a flashlight. Turning it on, a blue light hit the surrounding bars of their cage and it increased in size, the gaps now large enough for them to fit through. He directed the light towards my own confinements and gave it the same treatment, the space between the bars now wide enough for me to slip through and the cage close enough to the ground that I wouldn’t hurt myself when jumping down. In his pained state, Bill dropped Stan and Ford while vigorously rubbing at his eye.

 

I ran over to the elder twins and helped them off the ground, keeping one hand on Ford’s elbow to keep him close.

 

“Save yourselves! Run! We’ll take care of Bill,” Dipper instructed with a strength to his words.

 

“What? That’s a suicide mission!” Ford and his brother took a step forward, both understandably hesitant to leave their family behind.

 

“Trust us! We’ve beat him before!”

 

“And we’ll beat him again!” Mabel screeched, fist-bumping her twin.

 

They turned to the dream demon who was still tending to his pained eye, heckling him to get his attention. They began running down the halls, calling back to him for him to chase them, but when they were out of sight, the three of us that were left behind made a move to follow them.

 

Ford and Stan collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath and my instincts held me back, worried for them, “Not so fast, you three wait here! I’ve got some children I need to make into corpses!” the blue cage was back, trapping the three of us inside as Bill grew giant and red, extra appendages sprouting out along with a long tongue, “SEE YA REAL SOON,” his haunting voice boomed.

 

Banging against the bars, we all called out to Bill, willing him to stop, and the kids, praying that they wouldn’t be harmed. It was up to them now, we couldn’t do anything from in here, but Bill was serious now. He’d surely be on high-alert for any more tricks, not letting his guard down any more than he has.

 

“I can’t believe this! The kids are gonna die and it’s all my fault! Because I couldn’t shake your stupid hand!” Stanley fell to his knees, hand over his face in shame, “Dad was right about me. I am a screw up.”

 

“Ah, don’t blame yourself,” Ford replied, holding his arm out to me. I placed myself against his side, holding him close and not hiding the fact that I was scared, “I’m the one who made a deal with Bill in the first place. I fell for all his easy flattery! You would have seen him for the scam artist he is,” pulling a container from his coat, he took a gulp of water, offering it to me, then to Stan after I’d denied his offer.

 

“How did things get so messed up between us?”

 

“We used to be like Dipper and Mabel,” sitting ourselves on the floor, I leaned against the side of the cage and gripped onto Ford’s hand, “The world’s about to end and they still work together. How do they do it?”

 

“Easy,” Stan shrugged, “They’re kids, they don’t know any better. Whoa, where are you goin’?” I watched Ford as he stood up, the same question in my mind.

 

He looked hesitant to speak, so it was likely something Stan and I wouldn’t like, “I’m gonna play the only card we have left. Let Bill into my mind, he’ll be able to take over the galaxy and maybe even worse. But at least he might let the kids free,” I was right, we didn’t like it.

 

“Stanford, no,” I begged with a small voice.

 

“What? Are you kiddin’ me?! You’re honestly telling me there’s nothing else we can do?”

 

“Bill’s only weak in the mind space, if I didn’t have this darn plate in my head, we could erase him with the memory gun when he steps inside my mind!”

 

Stan looked long and hard at the memory gun Ford produced from his coat, considering our options, “What if he goes into my mind? My brain isn’t good for anything.”

 

Ford chuckled solemnly for a second, looking tired, “There’s nothing in your mind he wants… It has to be me. We need to take his deal, it’s the only way he’ll agree to save you two and the kids.”

 

“Do you really think he’s gonna make good on that deal?” looking from Stan to me, seeing our desperate expressions, he sighed.

 

“What other choice do we have?”

 

A beat of silence passed before the rustle of clothing surprised Ford and I, turning our heads to see Stan removing his blazer and unbuckling his belt. My eyes widen at first, wondering what the hell we was doing, but then it sank in, “Stan… You don’t have to do this…”

 

He paused for a moment, looking at me with steely determination in his eyes, “I want to. Ford, that brain of yours is more useful than mine and this is our best shot. So, come on. Give me your clothes!” if we weren’t in such a dire situation, this might have been something to laugh about. But none of this was funny now, it was sad and a desperate attempt at saving the town, maybe even the world.

 

I turned away as they both undressed, mostly as an act of politeness, but also so they wouldn’t see my face scrunch up as I forced tears to stay unshed. Stan was giving up everything right now, sure, no one would die, but he wouldn’t remember a thing, not his brother or sister-in-law-to-be, his parents, their brother Sherman. Not even the kids. But he put on a brave face and acted as if it were nothing. I wanted to protest, tell him that he can’t do this for us all, but I couldn’t deny that it was our only hope of a safe world.

 

Ford coughed, signalling that it was okay to turn around. When I did, my eyes locked onto his, even dressed as his brother, I could tell, but I couldn’t deny the resemblance. Bill didn’t know Ford the way I did, so if everything goes to plan, he’ll be none the wiser. Walking over to Stan, I smoothed out his coat and fixed the neck of his turtleneck. The twins seemed to understand what I had in mind – stand close to Stan and it’ll only give Bill more reason to think that it’s Ford.

 

Closing my eyes, I wrapped my arms around Stan’s chest, holding him in a friendly embrace that spoke loud enough, so I didn’t have to. Thank you, I’m sorry and I’ll miss you.

 

“Alright, Ford. Time’s up!”

 

The shrill voice of Bill drew our attention to the outside of the cage where he stood, Dipper and Mabel clutched tightly in his fist, “I’ve got the kids! I think I’m gonna kill one of them now, just for the heck of it!” as he blinked, his pupil alternated between the shape of a pine tree and a shooting star, a red light casting down over the children as they struggled against his hold, “Enie, meanie, miney… YOU!” raising his hand and preparing to click his fingers, Stan yelled, doing a perfect impersonation of his brother.

 

“Wait! I surrender!”

 

“Good choice,” and with that, he dropped the children with no regard for their safety as they collided with the ground below.

 

Ford grabbed Stan by the lapels of his coat, “Don’t do it, Ford!” he sounded just like Stan, “It’ll destroy the universe!”

 

“It’s the only way!”

 

Laughing at the scene, Bill snapped his fingers and the cage collapsed, “Even when you’re about to die, you Pines twins just can’t get along!” the same red arms from earlier protruded from the ground, one wrapping itself around Ford while the other grabbed onto me, holding us both down to the floor.

 

“My only condition is that you let my brother, (Y/N) and the kids go!”

 

Looking suspicious, Bill waved his hand, “Fine.”

 

“No! Grunkle Ford! Don’t trust him!” Dipper reached a hand forward, as if trying to hold his great uncle back.

 

As Stan took a step forward, Bill reached out a flaming blue hand, “It’s a deal!” he moved closer, stretching his arm further until his hand took Bill’s. The triangular demon turned to stone and within seconds, Stan was crumpled on the floor, sitting on his knees and almost seeming peaceful.

 

Removing Stan’s signature fez, Ford pulled the memory gun from his blazer and messed with the dial, the screen reading ‘Stanley Pines’ as he pointed it in his direction. His hands shook with each second and time seemed to slow down, the heartbreak was painted across everyone faces, but no one shook more than Ford did right now. Despite his desire to put away the gun and save Stanley, he pulled the trigger.

 

After around five seconds of holding down the trigger to ensure the gun removed everything, including Bill, he lowered his hands. The deep frown etched its way into the corners of his lips and I placed an arm around his front and back, pulling him close from the side. While he did respond to my gesture, his eyes stayed locked on the shell of a man at our feet.

 

The clatter of the gun hitting the floor echoed throughout the room, soon followed by the groaning of the others who had been restored from their tapestry states. We couldn’t see what was happening outside, but we could hear the inhuman screams and thrashing wind that seemed to travel upwards. And then the Fearamid steadily collapsed, brick by brick, it disappeared upwards and towards the tear in the sky. Eventually, that was it. A bright light revealed the town, now back to its previous normalness and no sign of Weirdmageddon.

 

Ford’s hand on the small of my back led me in the direction of a clearing, following behind the kids as they ran towards Stan, still sat on the ground, “Oh my gosh, Grunkle Stan, you did it!” Mabel cheered.

 

“Oh, uh, hey there… kiddo…” he muttered, somewhat awkwardly, “What’s your name?”

 

The noise of despair that came from the young girl caused me to grip Ford’s arm, wishing that this wasn’t our reality, that Stan wasn’t actually gone.

 

“Grunkle Stan?”

 

He looked around, “Who’re you talking to?”

 

“Come on… It’s me… It’s me Grunkle Stan. Grunkle Stan! It’s me!” Dipper grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her away as Ford walked forward.

 

“We had to erase his mind to defeat Bill, it’s all gone. Stan has no idea, but he did it. He saved the world… He saved me… You’re our hero, Stanley,” the quiver in his voice pushed me over, tears spilling from my eyes as I crouched down, hugging the kids as he hugged his brother.

 

For once, I wasn’t worried about the state of my house. Despite the heavily chipped wood and plant life spread around, I was focused on Stan as he entered the living room, “Hey, this is a real nice place you got here.”

 

“It’s your place, Grunkle Stan.”

 

“Don’t you remember? Even a little?”

 

“No,” he sat in the recliner, grinning to himself, “But this chair hugs my butt like it remembers!” sighing, he opened his eyes and saw everyone’s apprehensive faces, “Hey, why the long faces? You guys look like it’s someone’s funeral! Who’s that big guy crying in the corner?”

 

Soos turned away, hiding his tears, “We saved the world, but what’s the point? Grunkle Stan’s not himself anymore,” Dipper spoke.

 

“There’s gotta be something we can do to jog his memory!” Mabel begged, denying that her great uncle was really gone for good.

 

“There isn’t, I’m sorry. Stan’s gone,” Ford told her, not knowing what else to say.

 

“I know my grunkle is in there somewhere! There’s gotta be something around here that can help bring him back!” her eyes darted around the room until they landed on a pink book on the floor. The cover read ‘Summer Memories’, “This’ll work!”

 

She perched herself on the chair beside her great uncle, flipping through the pages and begging him to remember. The discomfort on his face made it evident that he didn’t understand and felt bad for the girl. Everyone gathered around, peering over their shoulders and watching with bated breaths, just waiting for him to speak. I tucked myself under Ford’s arm as Stan looked around, apologising and reiterating that he just doesn’t remember.

 

That was, until Waddles interrupted the moment by jumping on Stan’s lap, “Ah! Quit it Waddles! I’m trying to remember my life story!”

 

Gasping, we all watched him, Dipper asking first, “What did you say?”

 

“I said get Waddles off of me!”

 

Ford grinned, placing a hand on Mabel’s shoulder, “It’s working! Keep reading!”

 

Soos instructed that she should tell him about their boss/employee relationship, to which Stan told Soos to stop trying to get himself a raise. Ford tightened his arm around me as Stan places his around the kids, listening intently while Mabel read each page with as much enthusiasm as she wrote them. Night arrived quickly, Stan seeming to remember pretty much everything and we concluded that tomorrow would be the perfect day for a party - a birthday party, to be specific.

 

The whole town was invited to celebrate their thirteenth birthday and last day in Gravity Falls.

 

“Happy birthday to you,” the crowd sang, ending with a cheer as the twins smiled.

 

Mabel thanked the townsfolk for helping with the party, many of them replying and expressing their gratitude towards the Pines family and how they’ve positively impacted their lives.

 

“Dude, make a wish, dawg!” Soos leaned down, now eye-level with the twins.

 

“You know, my first day here, you’d have asked me what I wanted, I’d have said adventure, mystery, true friends. But looking here, at all of you, I realise that every wish came true,” Dipper spoke, looking at everyone face in the crowd and then his family, “I have everything I wanted.”

 

“If I had one wish, it would be to shrink all of you with a shrink ray and bring you home with us in my pocket, but since that’s impossible, uh,” Mabel directed a whisper to Ford, “Is that impossible?” his reply was a gesture for fifty-fifty, “Since that’s probably impossible, my only wish is for everyone to sign my scrapbook! I’ll never forget you guys. Wait…” pulling the memory gun from her pocket, she smashed it against the deck of the Shack, destroying it, “Now I’ll never forget you guys.”

 

We all smiled at her action, watching as she and Dipper joined each other in front of the pink cake and blew out the candles, the cheering and applause of the crowd following soon after.

 

 

**Ford’s POV**

 

I grinned at the pair as they giggled and began opening their presents. Placing a hand on (Y/N)’s back, I leaned down so only she could hear me, “I’m going to talk with Stanley, okay? I’ll be back in a minute, sweetheart.”

 

“Alright,” she replied, pressing a small peck against my cheek and watching me walk away. That damn smile still made me melt.

 

Stepping behind my brother, I tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention, “Stanley, I need to talk to you,” I didn’t let any emotion show on my face as we stepped around the side of the house, I didn’t want to give it away just yet.

 

“I didn’t want to say anything with everyone listening, but we’ve got a problem. Weirdmageddon has been contained, but I’m detecting some strange new anomalies in the Arctic Ocean. I want to investigate it, but I think I might be too old to go in alone,” I grinned at him as I switched off the watch’s projection that showed a red blip in the location I mentioned.

 

“Are you saying you need someone to help you sail around the world in the adventure of a lifetime?”

 

“I don’t want just someone to come with me, Stanley. I want it to be you,” pulling out the picture of our childhood project, the Stan O’ War, I passed it to him, “Will you give me a second chance?”

 

Taking a second to look at the picture in his hands, Stan looked at me, “You think we’ll find treasure? And Babes? Wait, what about (Y/N)?”

 

“She’s already agreed to come along. As long as it’s okay with you, of course.”

 

“Alright, but there better not be any unnecessary boat rocking, if you know what I mean,” he clapped me on the back as we shared a hearty chuckle.

 

“No worries, brother. But what are we going to do about the Shack?”

 

 

**Reader’s POV**

 

It was that time, the one that everyone was dreading. Mabel and Dipper stood in front of the bus’s open door, and struggled to hold back their tears as they looked over the many faces they would miss over the school year. Dipper was now donning Wendy’s signature hat as a goodbye gift to remember her by and Mabel gazed longingly at her precious pig, Waddles.

 

“Guess we said goodbye to everyone, except… Waddles…” she walked towards the pig, trying to find the words to say, “I don’t know how to say this… but… Mom and dad won’t let me bring a pig back home to California, so… You have to stay here!” tears streamed down her face as she turned away, making her way back to the bus until Waddles held her back, mouth latched onto her purple skirt, “Come on, come on… I have to go… I-I’m sorry, Waddles!”

 

The scene was heart breaking to everyone who watched, I even pulled myself closer to Ford’s side with the emotions overwhelming me. Stan visibly shook as he put on a straight face and walked forward, plucking the pig from the ground, “You know what, forget it! I lived with this pig all summer, now your parents are gonna have to!” Ford joined his brother as the pig was placed in the doorway of the bus, “Hey, bus guy! This pig is coming with the kids!”

 

The driver tried to protest, arguing that animals on moving vehicles was ‘strictly prohibited’, but his voice died down when Stan flashed his golden knuckle dusters for the man to see and Ford pulled aside his coat, revealing a very advanced looking gun.

 

“Kids,” Stan kneeled down, tears in his eyes, “You knuckleheads were nothing but a nuisance and I’m glad to be rid of you,” the young twins sniffled at his words, pushing forward and wrapping their arms around him.

 

“We’ll miss you, too, Grunkle Stan,” Mabel quietly spoke, batting the black tassel on the back of Stan’s fez.

 

The pair turned their backs on the family and friends they’d grown so close to over the summer, dragging their bags and giving each other once last look before boarding the bus.

 

“Ready to head into the unknown?”

 

“Nope… Let’s do it.”

 

As the bus slowly started to move, we all began waving, and then running, chanting a chorus of ‘Goodbye’, ‘We’ll miss you’ and ‘See you soon’. The look on Stan’s face was enough to make my heart clench, looking as if he were lost now that his great niece and nephew were gone, not to return until next year.

 

Ford placed an arm over his shoulder, the two sharing a meaningful look that put the smile back on Stan’s features. We would see them again in no time. Just a few months and seasons, then they’d be back.

 

Until then, we had an adventure of our own to embark on.


End file.
